Address Data Sharing and Security Issues
Organizations can address legal, regulatory, policy, ethical, proprietary, contractual, and socio-cultural barriers to data sharing by using the caBIG® Data Sharing and Security Framework (DSSF). The DSSF provides guidelines to help assess the sensitivity of data that may be shared and—when fully developed—will consist of policies, processes, model agreements, and other materials that participating centers agree to help develop and to adopt as appropriate.
Together, these documents will cover critical issues such as the creation of a trust fabric for accepting user authentication credentials from other institutions, standards for the levels of security that are needed for different types of data, and suggestions on how to share data subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules, as well as other applicable laws, regulations, and policies.
- Read the DSSF Fact Sheet for a basic overview
- Watch the DSSF introductory presentation or download the PowerPoint file
What would you like to do?
Learn more about this resource
The current version of DSSF is available from the Data Sharing and Intellectual Capital (DSIC) Knowledge Center. Visit the DSSF page of this wiki for a variety of resources, including:
- An application overview and at-a-glance details
- A downloadable version of the DSSF
- Forums for discussing questions about the application, as well as the future development and evolution of DSSF
- Other resources such as external links and related applications
You can also view the DSSF Web cast materials to learn about the framework and its supporting applications. A brief DSSF Tutorial is available for reference as well.
- caBIG® Support Service Providers
- Data Sharing Policies for Diverse Fields of Study
- Addressing the Needs of the NCI designated Cancer Centers
- caBIG® Enabling Data Sharing by Addressing Policy Issues
- New caBIG® Knowledge Centers Serve as Hub for Growing Community
- Q & A with Devjani Chatterjee, Center Deployment Lead, Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University
- caGrid Release Highlights Usability and Security Functions
Review advanced resources and support
DSSF was established and is being further developed by the caBIG® Data Sharing and Intellectual Capital (DSIC) Workspace, which works to facilitate data sharing between and among caBIG® participants by addressing legal, regulatory, policy, proprietary, and contractual barriers to data exchange.
A number of other resources are available to support data sharing activities.
- DSSF Tree provides a different way of looking at DSSF and is intended to be used in conjunction with DSSF.
- Decision Support Tools, which are intended to be used in conjunction with the DSSF and DSSF Tree, correspond to one of the four analyses outlined in the DSSF and provide more detail regarding considerations for conducting analyses in the specific subject areas:
- Human Research Decision Support Tool provides navigation on the differences between federal, state, and local policies about human subjects and IRB considerations.
- Privacy Decision Support Tool gives guidance on the differences between federal, state, and local policies about data privacy and HIPAA considerations.
- Contractual Decision Support Tool aids in the identification of conditions in funding grants, contracts, or other agreements that restrict or prohibit dissemination of data and determine what agreements, if any, are necessary for the data to be shared.
- Proprietary Decision Support Tool assists in the identification of intellectual property rights, publication restrictions, or other considerations that restrict or delay dissemination of data and determine what agreements, if any, are necessary for the data to be shared.
