The Arctic Data Center supports preservation and sharing of diverse disciplinary data from the Arctic which may include sensitive data such as protected species information or identifiable human subject data. We work with researchers to appropriately document and preserve data and metadata of varying degrees of sensitivity, following relevant policies such as Institutional Review Board (IRB) agreements and with consideration of community principles for data sharing, such as the CARE principles.
As part of the data upload process we ask researchers to indicate the level of sensitivity or restriction of the data. These color labels come from the community developed Data Tags system.
DataTags are human-readable and machine-actionable labels that express conditions under which datasets can be stored, transmitted, or used. Each DataTag tells you that there are some specific things you can safely do with the data — such as make the data available to any user who accepts a pre-specified click-through agreement — without requiring further human analysis or decision making.
The following Data Tags are used in the Arctic Data Center repository:
Blue Tag: Non sensitive information
| Risk Category | Non sensitive data |
| Considerations | No restrictions |
| Outcome | Store and publish data publicly |
Green Tag: Sensitive information made safe
| Risk category | Sensitive data with minimal risk due to aggregation and de-identification |
| Considerations | Human subjects data, protected species information that has been made safe for distribution |
| Outcome | Store metadata along with anonymized or aggregated and summarized version of the data that are suitable for public distribution |
Yellow Tag: Potentially harmful personal information
| Risk category | Sensitive data with minimal risk |
| Considerations | Possibly could become safe to distribute at a later time. |
| Outcome | Store non-sensitive metadata record about the dataset, and evaluate data sensitivity with researchers, possibly storing the data with restricted access (but in the clear) on an IRB-approved site, and possibly with an embargo for public access later |
Orange Tag: Sensitive personal information
| Risk category | Sensitive data with minimal risk |
| Considerations | Embargo date set at time of deposit that is used to determine when it is released |
| Outcome | Store non-sensitive metadata record about the dataset, and evaluate data sensitivity with researchers, possibly storing the data with restricted access (but in the clear) on an IRB-approved site |
Red Tag: Very sensitive personal information
| Risk category | Sensitive data with significant risk |
| Considerations | Data that would be highly harmful if released, and for which it may, for example, be a criminal offense to release the data |
| Outcome | Store non-sensitive metadata record about the dataset, and evaluate data sensitivity with researchers, possibly preserving the data with restricted access and encrypted at rest on an IRB-approved site |
Crimson Tag: Maximum sensitive personal information
| Risk category | Sensitive data with significant risk |
| Considerations | NSF and/or investigator determine the data should not be preserved due to sensitivity, so only describe the dataset in metadata |
| Outcome | Store non-sensitive metadata record about the dataset, and evaluate data sensitivity with researchers. It is unlikely the data would be preserved on any system |