Big Data Sandbox Options for a Sustainable Future

Legal and data protection considerations

The sandbox and various options below need to be considered in the light of several legal frameworks. The underlying principles that balance living in an open, informed and transparent society with a person’s fundamental rights to privacy are described in various documents, including the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics³. Typically these principles and rights are implemented in different jurisdictions in the form of data protection, statistical and freedom of information laws.

The use of confidential data in the sandbox requires that all relevant legislative frameworks are taken into account and that the technological solutions adopted are appropriate. One important consideration is that the security measures adopted do not hamper the flexibility of use of the sandbox, particularly important in the case of an environment to be used as a test bed. Therefore, the use of confidential data in the sandbox will be limited by what is possible under the technological solutions adopted.

As is discussed in section 5, if a production environment is considered and confidential data collected under statistical legislation are to be used, the technological and security solutions need to be adapted accordingly.