Privacy issues require more awareness in the lab

Laboratory employees deal with privacy issues almost every day. Research data must be stored, processed and (re)used in accordance with legal regulations. But how should employees deal with this? During the webinar 'Consciously dealing with personal data in the lab', led by data specialist Peter Boogaard, pragmatic answers are formulated to all your questions. FHI already spoke to him.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

In this webinar, Boogaard highlights various aspects of privacy in the lab: “We will discuss, among other things, how we can pragmatically apply standardized data systems, policies, procedures and standards in the lab. Also called 'data government'. We also provide guidance on dealing with the privacy of, for example, genetic data.”

“A car supplier today knows more about our driving behavior than we know ourselves, and we all think that's great. But as soon as it concerns our own health, we panic.” – Peter Boogaard

According to the data specialist, not much has changed despite the introduction of the GDPR regulations: “The regulations are not new, but privacy legislation has been formalized in Europe with the GDPR. And now action can actually be taken against violations. There is also a lot of hype about this topic. You regularly hear people say in the laboratory: 'That is not allowed according to the GDPR!' The best question you can ask is: where is that? We want to put this into practice during this webinar.”

Boogaard says that making laboratory work privacy-friendly is not that difficult in practice: “Disconnecting a name from a patient, for example, is something that is becoming increasingly common. You must use an additional layer to prevent access to personally identifiable information. For example, by using file numbers.”

He further emphasizes that possible violations of privacy rules almost always happen unintentionally: “It often happens unconsciously and in good faith. Everyone does their best. We therefore do not want to point fingers during this session. We especially want to create awareness. If someone in the lab says: 'give me the result of that sample', we want you to ask yourself whether someone is allowed to do that.”

“In these corona times, privacy is even more under the magnifying glass. Just look at the corona app, everyone is panicking about it. But in a restaurant I have to give my phone number and name. And everyone fills something in there. It's about personal responsibility.” – Peter Boogaard

The discussion panel consists of three experts from different fields. Boogaard says: “Bert Eussen, Data Management Genomics at Erasmus MC, will talk about aspects of what you can or cannot do with DNA data. How do doctors and hospitals deal with this? Tests for Covid-19 are of course a very good example of this. Sofie van der Meulen, Senior Supervision Officer at the Dutch Data Protection Authority, explains how we can deal pragmatically with the privacy rules. Rik Pepermans, independent IT specialist, will finally talk about the technical side such as the ICT infrastructure and lab application software. Sometimes you work with computer systems that are not yet completely ready for the privacy rules.”

Follow the free webinar 'Consciously dealing with personal data in the lab' and get guidance on privacy issues. Ask us your privacy question immediately and receive an answer during the session. the participants in the discussion panel are happy to answer your privacy questions. Do not hesitate and send your question to wendy@fhi.nl.

The webinar will take place on Thursday, October 1 at 2 p.m.