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Data Ethics and Legal Framework

The ethical and legal framework for research data is determined by both UL internal regulations and Latvian and European Union legislation. Compliance with these regulations is not just a formal requirement, but an essential prerequisite for quality and trustworthy research.

To ensure research compliance with all requirements, researchers must be familiar with both general regulations and specific aspects – personal data protection, intellectual property, and the need for ethics committee opinions.

  • "Regulations on Academic Integrity" – stipulates that researchers must observe objectivity, responsibility, and mutual respect, exclude misleading and fraud in all research stages, and ensure confidentiality for research participants
  • "UL Academic Ethics Code" – provides that researchers will conduct scientific activity at the highest possible quality, avoid bias and selective interpretation in the analysis of studied phenomena
  • "UL Research Ethics Policy" – determines when an ethics committee opinion is necessary
  • "General Data Protection Regulation" establishes basic principles for personal data processing: lawfulness, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitations, security, and ensuring data subject rights
  • "Scientific Activity Law" – scientist status and duties, research objectivity and ethics requirements
  • "Copyright Law" – researchers' permitted use of protected works for research, citation, and text mining purposes
  • "Patient Rights Law" – special requirements for health data processing
  • "Human Genome Research Law" – regulation of genetic research
  • "Animal Protection Law" – requirements for research involving animals
  • "Statistics Law" – rules for using statistical data
  • "Criminal Law" provides liability for unlawful disclosure of personal data that may cause harm to the data subject

Personal data protection: GDPR compliance

All personal data must be managed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter – GDPR). This means obtaining data lawfully and transparently, using it only for specified purposes, collecting minimally necessary data, ensuring data security (password-protected files, encryption), and ensuring data subject rights (for example, the right to access their data or have it deleted).

One of the most used legal bases for personal data processing for research purposes is informed consent. This is the participant's voluntary, specific, and informed consent to the processing of their personal data, which is documented with specially prepared forms. The informed consent form must specify the research purpose, type of data use, storage duration, and participant rights.

Before data collection, UL researchers are advised to consult with the UL data protection specialist if there are doubts about data processing compliance with the regulation.

Intellectual property rights

Research data may contain intellectual property (for example, copyrighted works, software codes, original surveys, etc.), therefore it is important to:

  • determine who owns the data – the researcher or the institution
  • agree on data usage rules – especially in collaborative projects
  • choose an appropriate data license that determines how others may use the data

If data contains third-party intellectual property (for example, copyrighted materials), permission must be obtained for its use.

Researchers must ensure that sensitive data is not published without appropriate consent and protection mechanisms.

An opinion is required for:

  • research involving human participation (obtaining and processing personal data, physical participation, observation, or opinion gathering)
  • research involving animals
  • research involving human or animal tissues, cells, or biological samples
  • research that poses environmental risks or contains dual-use risks

Before starting research, permits specified in the laws of the Republic of Latvia must be obtained, for example, an opinion from the Central Medical Ethics Committee for human genome research studies, or a permit from the Food and Veterinary Service for research using laboratory animals. If an external opinion is not required, an opinion from the UL research ethics committee of the relevant scientific field group must be obtained.

For more details about UL ethics committees and documents to be submitted to them, see the "Research Ethics" section of the website (in Latvian).