Privacy notice

What data are you using?

This study uses the National Study of Health and Wellbeing which provides data on both treated and untreated mental health problems in the English adult population (aged 16 and over). The 2014 version of the data set for which access has been granted for the purposes of this study has been redacted to minimise the likelihood of individuals being able to identify anyone taking part in the survey.

How will you store my data?

Pseudonymised survey data will be stored on the University of York secure computer network. It will be accessed only by those involved in carrying out the research, all of whom have received adequate data protection and confidentiality training.

How will you keep my data secure?

The data controllers for this study are the University of York.

The University will put in place appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal and/or special category data. All the data will be held in data storage systems that meet the highest international standard in information security (ISO27001:2013). Only researchers in the project team at the University of York will process your data.

What is the purpose and legal basis of the processing?

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the University has to identify a legal basis for processing personal data and, where appropriate, an additional legal basis for processing special category data.

In line with the University’s charter - which states that we advance learning and knowledge by teaching and research - the University processes personal data for research purposes under Article 6 (1) (e) and under Article 9 (2) (j) of the GDPR:

Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.

Processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, or scientific and historical research purposes or statistical purposes.

The basis for dissemination of this data falls under Sections 261(1) and 261(2)(b)(ii) of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

How long is my information kept?

The data has been obtained for the study from NHS Digital for three years and will be stored on the University of York secure network for this duration, after which it will be destroyed. Findings from the study may be published in academic journals or other publicly available documents, for example, presentations about the research. All findings will be published at the population level. The researchers do not have access to your personal details and all data is pseudonymised.

How can I access my personal information?

The data held for the purposes of this project has been subject to controls to ensure that individuals are not identifiable from the dataset. If you would like to access information held about you as part of the National Study of Health and Wellbeing, please contact NHS Digital for further information. https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-survey/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-survey-survey-of-mental-health-and-wellbeing-england-2014

Please note that, as we do not hold names or addresses for this study, we cannot remove participants from this study.

Who do I contact in the event of a complaint?

If you are unhappy with the way your personal data has been handled, you can contact the University of York Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@york.ac.uk.

If you remain unsatisfied, you have a right to report any concerns to the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk/concerns.