Diversity in political representation in Scotland: data improvement project proposal
We have been scoping out a project to work with stakeholders to improve the completeness of data on the diversity of election candidates and elected representatives in Scotland. This paper sets out details of a proposed new data collection at the 2022 local council elections.
7. Data protection
The Scottish Government is committed to protecting and respecting candidate's privacy. It is very important that candidates have confidence in the data collection and are able to respond as openly as possible. Respondents will be advised that no question is mandatory and they can skip any questions they do not feel comfortable answering.
The proposed data collection and processing will be designed to comply fully with all data protection laws ensuring that candidate's personal data is protected. The online version of the survey would be run through Questback, a password protected secure online survey tool frequently used by the Scottish Government. Paper versions of the questionnaire would be returnable using sealable pre-paid envelopes; would be stored in a locked cupboard upon receipt; and would be securely destroyed once data entry was complete. Our proposed approach to the use of unique identifiers so that candidate's names are not stored with their data is set out in Section 4.4.
A data protection impact assessment and privacy notice will be published on the Scottish Government website.
Contact
Email: Gillian.Cruickshank@gov.scot
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