A socio-legal exploration of approaches towards secondary uses of administrative data in social science research.

Governments worldwide are increasingly seeking to capitalise on technological advances in the collecting, linking, and analysis of ever greater sets of data. By applying novel analytical techniques to previously collected administrative data, governments and researchers seek to shed light on the causes of societal challenges and provide a robust evidence base for policymaking. However, these advances foster new opportunities and risks, particularly to citizens’ privacy interests. Recent legislation has grappled with this modern data processing landscape by protecting individuals without unduly constraining the potential of such developments. Nevertheless, public backlashes to legal data-sharing initiatives and a wider societal unease towards the use of citizens’ data question the ability of the law to secure societal acceptance in this context. Future data-sharing initiatives and the wider legitimacy of the law are put at risk if they diverge from citizens’ views as to what is acceptable regarding data use. But how do such divergences arise, and how can we respond? An analysis of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Digital Economy Act 2017 provides insights into the influences that shaped these legislative outcomes. Understanding the law as the product of a fiercely contested process highlights the underlying motivations that shaped the law and the effects that arise as a result. A mixed methods study provides rich data on citizens’ views towards the appropriate secondary uses of administrative data in research. This enables a comparison between the legislative approaches and citizens’ views, suggesting areas of divergence and their underlying causes. In response to these divergences, the need to better incorporate citizens in the governance of secondary data uses is emphasised. Pursuing the law’s legitimacy is posited as one requiring ongoing interactions between those using the law and citizens to continually develop and evolve the law over time.