BLOG - Using SafePods for accessing data: Looking beyond the administrative red-tape

Before I describe my experience of accessing and using a SafePod, I would like to extend my thanks to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for granting data access that made my SafePod experience possible. I have been using the ONS Longitudinal Study to explore social and health outcomes among service leavers in England and Wales, based on a newly added question to the 2021 Census. Working with Dr. Carles Ibáñez (Edinburgh Napier Business School) and Professor Iain Atherton (SCADR co-director; Edinburgh Napier University), we’ve cleaned and harmonised a range of veteran socioeconomic and health variables. We’re now describing service-leaver profiles, benchmarking our findings against existing sources, and gearing up to track how their health and well-being evolve relative to the general population. Our next step is to investigate whether military service itself influences those outcomes, and we hope to share our results at the ADR UK conference in Wales in September.

What is a SafePod?

A SafePod is officially described on the SafePod Network website as a standardised safe setting that provides access to research datasets from participating Data Centres across the UK. 

When you walk into the main library at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and glance to your right, you’ll notice a wooden-framed, glass-walled enclosure secured by an entry pad. Inside – occupying roughly a 2 × 4 metre footprint – sits a SafePod which has door control access, CCTV, two monitors, a keyboard, a mouse, to provide remote access to high-security data centres data for research. Access to their data also requires training to be completed and correct accreditations. There are currently 7 UK-approved Data Centres, that provide access to their data through the SafePod Network, including ONS, UK Data Service, and SAIL.

What security checks are needed?

The process of accessing data from a Data Centre for use in a SafePod can feel a bit bureaucratic. First, you secure ethical review approval, complete safe-researcher training, and set up an individual data-access agreement with the relevant Data Centre. Then you register on the SafePod Network, complete a short training questionnaire and then find an available SafePod and book it. On the day of your booking you arrive at the library reception, where you need to provide your identification and receive a brief orientation of the SafePod.

What's inside?

Prior to entering a SafePod, you lock your belongings in the external locker. For access to the ONS Secure Research Service (SRS), you may only bring in a phone for two-factor authentication so you can log into the SRS.  Nothing else is permitted—no notebooks, no loose papers. CCTV keeps you monitored throughout. It feels strict, but it’s a small price for secure access.

Even with these safeguards, SafePods are far less of a hassle than other remote-access arrangements, particularly for highly sensitive datasets that simply can’t be accessed outside a secure facility. (the recently introduced “SafePoints” work in a similar manner). You can book up to two accredited researchers per session – as long as everyone has the required training and agreements in place. 

The Benefits

I have used the SafePod on six visits now, and I appreciate how it shields me from distractions. There’s no internet access beyond the Safepod’s secure links, and you can’t check email without stepping out. It’s the perfect excuse for an out-of-office reply—and a rare luxury for any researcher seeking uninterrupted focus.

Can Edinburgh have one please?

Keep in mind that using a SafePod comes with its own hidden costs. From Edinburgh, the drive to Glasgow Caledonian can easily stretch to an hour – or more, if traffic is unkind. Parking in Glasgow city centre is another headache best left for a different discussion! The train is expensive and the buses aren't great!

You can reserve a Safepod for up to six hours per day, but if all slots are taken in Glasgow and you only hold a SafePod accreditation, your next nearest option is the University of St. Andrews. A beautiful drive – yes – but much longer, and I only had to make it once before I realised how lucky we are to have one at GCU.

It might be time for one of Edinburgh's universities to install the city's own SafePod, maybe researchers from Heriot Watt, Edinburgh and Napier should start a campaign at their university! Or at the very least, let's hope each university will install a SafePoint.

 As more Data Centres forge SafePod agreements and ADR Scotland achieves it's vision to create access to more linked datasets, the demand for both SafePods and SafePoints will only multiply. 

Adding more SafePods and SafePoints across the UK seems like the simplest way to keep pace.