Data Protection & Privacy

Your privacy is paramount to the BioPortal Research Initiative. We operate under strict clinical, academic, and legal safeguards to keep your information secure. BioPortal strictly follows Canadian and Quebec healthcare privacy frameworks, which dictate rigorous methods for data security, collection, and participant collaboration.

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Specific Safeguards We Enforce:

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  Double De-identification We remove names, provincial health numbers (RAMQ), and all direct identifying information. Participants receive a unique identifier (UID) at the time of consent. Before any sample or data is accessed by researchers, a second code is applied, ensuring the material remains strictly unidentifiable.
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  Legal Compliance We adhere fully to Quebec's Law 25, provincial hospital regulations, and Canadian federal privacy frameworks for genomic and clinical data security.
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  Ethics Board Oversight All storage and distribution protocols are managed and vetted by institutional Research Ethics Boards (REBs).
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  Strict Access Control Health data is stored on highly secure, siloed computing infrastructure, with strict multi-factor authentication tracking all access.
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  Researcher Code of Conduct To utilize data, investigators must: 1) sign legally binding data-use agreements explicitly promising never to attempt re-identification of any participant, and 2) provide institutional Research Ethics Board (REB) approval for their application.