Further information
Protection of personal data
Under the Data Protection Act (Swiss DPA or EU GDPR), personal data refers to information that relates to a specific or identifiable person. Personal data is information that relates to a person, such as their name, contact details, IP address, health data, information on political views, posts on social networks, etc.
All relevant information on protecting personal data in research can be found on the website of ETH Legal Services:
Detailed information and legal references can be found on the compliance website:
Data storage
ETH Internal data storage
- Separation of personal data from research data
If personal data must be collected (e.g. to re-contact participant later on or for debriefings), it should be kept separately and securely from the research data. This also applies to personalised consent forms, which should be kept in a secure location by the project management. - Do you process health data?
For the processing of health data/patient data, we recommend the ETH's own IT platform Leonhard Med. The "Leonhard Med Secure Scientific Platform Service" allows confidential data to be transferred, stored, managed and analysed securely. Further information can be found on Leonhard Med Secure Scientific Platform.
Use of ETH-external cloud services
Whenever possible, ETH-internal services should be used. The use of ETH-external cloud services is possible, provided that this is done using verified services that have been approved for the respective purpose. The list of released external cloud services can be found here (list).
If the external cloud service you want to use is not on the list of released services, the service must first undergo an audit. It is the responsibility of the information owner to carry out the audit, with the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) supporting you. This process can take over eight weeks. Therefore, please contact the CISO well in advance.
For more information, visit the website on using external cloud services.
Insurance
Damage incurred by participants as a result of taking part in research is usually covered by the ETH Zurich liability insurance (Basler Versicherungen, policy no. 30/4.078.362, confirmation).
Certain medical research projects are covered by an additional framework agreement. For such projects, a prior risk assessment must be carried out. Please refer to the liability insurance page for more information.
The coverage of medical human research abroad must always be clarified with (Finance & Controlling).
Study participants are responsible for insuring other losses (e.g. in connection with travel to and from the study).
Damage cases must be reported to the .