Legal Issues Raised By Secondary Use of Research Data for Biographical Research/Oral History Purposes.

Biographical research and oral history are among best paradigms of research, where there is a vivid discussion about the benefits of secondary use of research data. One of the challenges that researchers will encounter is how to be compliant with data protection regulations, particularly when it comes to the secondary use/ storing to research infrastructures of data without the explicit consent of research participants. Biographical research data such as interview transcriptions, biographical narratives, testimonies of ora history or personal stories often include sensitive and confidential information. Although researchers express fears that data protection regulation could put obstacles to the above mentioned research activities, on the contrary GDPR includes specific provisions that allow the further use of research data under specific safeguards in order- at the same time- to ensure that fundamental rights of data subjects are respected.

In this paper, we will analyse specific provisions for furher use of research data in data protection laws in EU and UK. Emphasis will be given to the guidelines given from the European Board of Data Protection to better balance between data protection right and the right to access research data and scientific freedom. Finally, we will discuss potential challenges for researchers, best practices they can use, and guidance on how to evaluate risks in various biographical research/oral history paradigms.