Human Data Types
The table contains data types, their definitions, and research context, as well as their WVU Research Risk/Classification.
Type | Definition | Research Context and Other Information | WVU Research Risk/Classification |
---|---|---|---|
Identifiable | Private information for which the participant's identity is or may be established by the researcher or associated with the information. |
|
High
(Sensitive) |
Indirectly Identifiable | HIPAA: Information that can be combined with other information to potentially identify a specific individual. |
|
High
(Sensitive) |
De-Identified | Data in which identifying information is removed permanently. Data can never be re-identified. |
Under HIPAA Privacy Rule, data are de-identified if either:
|
Low
(Public) |
Anonymous | Data collected without identifiers and never linked to an individual. The
researcher has NO way to link the data to a participant.
|
The researcher may know who the participant is but cannot link a response to a participant. | Low
(Public) |
Anonymized | Previously identifiable data (indirectly or individually identifiable) that
have been de-identified and for which a code or other link no longer exists.
A researcher has NO way to link anonymized data back to a specific participant.
Anonymized data IS NOT the same as anonymous, coded, or de-identified data.
|
|
Low
(Public) |
Coded | Data are separated from personal identifiers through use of a code. As long
as a link exists, data are considered indirectly identifiable and not anonymous,
anonymized or de-identified.
Coercion - Persuasion (i.e., of an unwilling person) to do or to agree to something by using obvious or implied force or threats. |
WVU considers coded data from the EMR as sensitive data. | High
(Sensitive) |
Limited Data Set | A HIPAA term for a data set where some PHI (18 identifiers) remain. | All the following identifiers
must be removed in order for health information to be a
limited data set:
|
High
(Sensitive) |