VIVE’s Privacy Policy on Research and Analysis

Special conditions apply to the processing of personal data in statistical and scientific studies, i.e. studies involving statistical processing of data as well as studies carried out for research purposes. These special conditions are set out in the sections below.

About this privacy policy

This privacy policy provides you with insight into how VIVE processes your personal data for statistical and scientific purposes, either as a data controller or as a data processor. When VIVE acts as a data controller, VIVE is responsible for the processing of your personal data. In cases where VIVE processes your personal data on behalf of and according to instructions from a partner, VIVE acts as a data processor and the partner is the data controller. In relation to a specific collection of your personal data for research or analysis, VIVE will always inform you whether it acts as data controller or data processor, and what this means for your contact options if you have questions about the project.

Confidential collection and processing of your personal data

VIVE always processes your personal data confidentially. Regardless of how your personal data has been collected, it will only be used for scientific or statistical purposes – never for individual case handling or similar purposes. The results of VIVE’s research ana analysis are published in a manner that does not make it possible to identify you as an individual.

Legal basis for processing personal data in research and analytical projects

VIVE is established by law on The Danish Center for Social Science Research, which states, among other things, that VIVE is an independent public institution whose purpose is to produce and disseminate applied research and analysis related to the development of the welfare society.

In VIVE’s research and analysis, personal data are processed on the legal basis set out in Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), while the legal basis for processing special categories of personal data (sensitive personal data) and national identification numbers (CPR numbers) is found in Sections 10 and 11 of the Danish Data Protection Act, respectively.

Where does VIVE collect personal data from?

VIVE collects personal data from citizens, public authorities, as well as from registers containing personal data held by Statistics Denmark and the Danish Health Data Authority.

As a general rule, we are obliged to inform you when we receive information about you. In certain cases, however, we may not be able to notify you directly, for example if we do not have your contact details, or if doing so would require a disproportionate effort.

May VIVE contact you even if you have not requested to be contacted?

Yes, we may. As mentioned above, VIVE’s purpose is to conduct research and analysis into the development of the welfare society – and in some of our projects we require the opinions of a large number of citizens regarding the subject under investigation. We therefore occasionally send questionnaires to a large number of citizens. This is often done by VIVE requesting CPR numbers from Statistics Denmark for a randomly selected group of citizens, after which VIVE, using the CPR numbers, can contact citizens directly via their digital mailbox.

VIVE’s right to obtain your CPR number follows from Section 11(1) of the Danish Data Protection Act, which provides that public authorities may process national identification numbers for the purpose of unique identification.

It is not possible to opt out of receiving digital mail from VIVE (unless you are generally exempt from digital post). However, if you receive a questionnaire from us, it is always voluntary whether you choose to respond.

Storage of your personal data

VIVE may store your personal data for as long as it is used in connection with a scientific or statistical study. If VIVE acts as a data processor, the personal data must either be deleted or returned to the data controller upon completion of the study. If VIVE acts as a data controller, the Danish National Archives (“Rigsarkivet”) will determine at the end of the study whether the personal data must be transferred to the archives in accordance with archival legislation. When it is no longer necessary to store the personal data, it will be deleted by VIVE.

Linking of registers containing personal data

VIVE only links registers for scientific or statistical purposes. All studies involving data linkage are approved by Statistics Denmark and/or the Danish Health Data Authority, as the linkage is carried out under their research schemes.

Disclosure of personal data to other scientific or statistical research projects

As a data controller, VIVE may disclose personal data collected by VIVE to other scientific or statistical research projects.

Disclosure of personal data to other public authorities

VIVE may only disclose personal data to other public authorities if the authority intends to use the data for studies with a clearly defined scientific or statistical purpose. The authority may not subsequently store or process the personal data for other purposes.

Disclosure of personal data to VIVE

It follows from Article 5(1)(b), second sentence, of the GDPR that further processing of personal data for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes is not considered incompatible with the original purposes. Unless it has been specifically stated to the data subjects that data are not shared, other data controllers, including public authorities, may therefore lawfully disclose personal data to VIVE, even if the data were originally collected for purposes other than scientific and statistical purposes, e.g. administrative purposes.

You can read more about the processing of personal data in connection with scientific research on the website  of the Danish Data Protection Agency.

Consent and your rights as a data subject

Participation in VIVE’s research and analytical projects does not usually require your written consent. This will be stated in the information letter for the specific project. For studies carried out for statistical and scientific purposes, you cannot subsequently obtain access to the processing of your personal data, or have your personal data disclosed or deleted. Your right to object to further processing is also restricted. This does not change the fact that your personal data is always processed confidentially and used only for scientific or statistical purposes.

Revision of the privacy policy

VIVE reserves the right to make changes to this privacy policy. In the event of changes, the date of the privacy policy will be updated. This version is effective from 1 February 2025.

Information on complaints to the Danish Data Protection Agency

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Danish Data Protection Agency if you are dissatisfied with the way we process your personal data.

You can read more about how to complain at datatilsynet.dk .