Q5: Does McMaster offer research data archive or distribution services?

Research data is central to any research project and must be securely stored and backed up. Keeping at least three copies of research data will help ensure that data is kept safe and reduces the risk of data loss. It is good practice to keep physical copies like CDs or DVDs in addition to electronic storage. It is also important to consider personally identifiable or sensitive information when storing data. If your research data contains sensitive, confidential, or restricted information, it must be encrypted (while stored and in transit) and secured. McMaster UTS has developed an information classification matrix to help understand data security requirements of McMaster policies.

If you are looking for secure storage for confidential or restricted research data, Spark’s Secure Empirical Analysis Lab (SEAL) has secure servers and a system that enables highly secure off-site access for your research team and collaborators. If you have questions about how to assess your data security needs and best options for research data backup, please get in touch or make a research conversation appointment with a member of our team.

For day to day file sharing and cloud storage, all Faculty and Staff have free access to MacDrive, a privately hosted, secure, cloud storage solution offering features similar to but without the potential security or legal concerns commercial providers. Like commercial tools from Dropbox and Google, MacDrive files can be synced using a desktop program installed on your local computer. Data stored on MacDrive resides in two separate data centres with multiple redundancies.

Faculty and Staff can request access for their team members and collaborators, including student staff members, RAs, TAs, community members, collaborators, and anyone else with whom you need to securely share your research data.