As part of the ongoing work at the ODI on privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), we are working on a series of short explainers that provide a closer look at the ways in which certain PETs have been deployed in the real world. In these explainers we have created an interactive diagram that walks you through the processes involved in the working of each example and a corresponding write-up that provides context of the circumstances in which it was used. Together, these two items provide a practical walkthrough of why this PET was used, how it works in practice and the outcomes of its use.
In this particular explainer, we take a look at a Trusted Research Environment (TRE). TREs are infrastructures that steward sensitive datasets by keeping them in a secure location, allowing access to them only for researchers subject to authorisation protocol and making sure the data never leaves their ecosystem.
In this example, we explore the SAIL Databank and accompanying Gateway as an early adopter of the TRE infrastructure, stewarding health and social data for National Health Wales and facilitating an enormous amount of research in the medical field. The SAIL infrastructure is particularly secure, with stringent authorisation protocols and a unique data ingress protocol with Trusted Third Parties.
You can explore SAIL’s TRE infrastructure with this interactive diagram.
For more information on the context in which this technology was used, how it was developed, the challenges that were encountered and overcome in setting it up, and the impact that using this technology has had, please read our write-up.
We hope that you find these resources helpful and that they inspire your curiosity about these novel technologies. If you are currently using or considering a PET and would like to discuss this with the PETs team, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
