Q. My Faculty's Ethics Committee has decided that my data is too sensitive to be put on a public platform like ZivaHub, even as confidential data. How do I reconcile this with the RDM policy's open data mandate?

The RDM policy acknowledges that there are ‘necessary constraints on the availability of data ... including the protection of personal data’ (UCT, 2018, p.6). Furthermore, the Terms of Data Deposit for ZivaHub stipulate that ‘Where data may not be shared publicly (e.g. due to ethical consideration), controlled access should be applied’ (UCT, 2017, p.1).

If the data has been deemed so sensitive that not even the confidential data function(ie. uploaded to the repository, metadata is publicly accessible, but data are inaccessible.) is appropriate, you can still create a metadata-only record on ZivaHub that informs potential users that the data exists and is being securely stored elsewhere, which keeps the door open for future collaboration efforts.