Ethical aspects

1. Are there any ethical or legal issues that can have an impact on data sharing? These can also be discussed in the context of the ethics review. If relevant, include references to ethics deliverables and ethics chapter in the Description of the Action (DoA). Is informed consent for data sharing and long term preservation included in questionnaires dealing with personal data?

Feel++ addresses several ethical and legal considerations in data management:

Medical and Biomedical Data

  • Patient consent protocols for medical imaging data (Eye2Brain, HemoTumPP projects)

  • Anonymization procedures compliant with GDPR and medical ethics

  • Ethics committee approval for all human subject research

  • Informed consent forms explicitly covering data sharing and preservation

Personal Data Protection

  • GDPR compliance for all European data processing

  • Data minimization principles in collection and storage

  • Right to erasure implementation for personal data

  • Regular privacy impact assessments

Intellectual Property

  • Clear licensing frameworks (LGPL for core software)

  • Attribution requirements for derived works

  • Commercial use limitations for certain datasets

  • Collaboration agreements defining data ownership

International Collaboration

  • Data transfer agreements for cross-border sharing

  • Compliance with export control regulations

  • Harmonization with partner institutions' ethics policies

  • Cultural sensitivity in global research partnerships

Research Ethics

  • Responsible conduct of research guidelines

  • Open science principles balanced with legitimate restrictions

  • Conflict of interest disclosure in data sharing

  • Environmental impact considerations for large-scale computing

Implementation

  • Regular ethics training for all team members

  • Ethics review board consultation for sensitive projects

  • Legal counsel involvement in complex data sharing agreements

  • Community feedback mechanisms for ethical concerns