Data Processing and Privacy

Datasets and Privacy in the Total Defense Study 2025

Datasets provided from the Total Defense Study 2025 will always be modified to ensure that you can’t be identified. The information you provide in the survey will be treated confidentially. Please note that survey invitations are sent via the Armed Forces HR and Conscription Centre (FPVS), Norwegian police districts, Yrkestrafikkforbundet, or the Norwegian Union of General Workers (Norsk Arbeidsmandsforbund) in the form of a link beginning with https://survey.euro.confirmit.com/wix/.

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The Total Defense Study 2025 strictly adheres to all research ethics guidelines and the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding the handling of information. The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), which is responsible for data processing, has obtained project approval from the data protection service at the Norwegian Defence University College (FHS) and from its own Data Protection Officer.

We rely on the survey tool Confirmit to conduct and manage the surveys. Confirmit is a globally recognized software system used by several large survey organizations. Although Confirmit has offices inside and outside the EEA, we will store the Total Defense Study 2025 data exclusively within the EU and follow European legislation. Under special circumstances, technical personnel at Confirmit in the USA may assist with technical issues, but this is done under strict security procedures to protect your privacy.

The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) project manager collects, stores, and processes the data material. Only the project manager will have full access to the data. If necessary, statisticians and supervisors at the University of Oslo, in addition to research colleagues at the University of Oslo, FFI, and the Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research (SCANCOR) at Stanford University, will review parts of the aggregated data and the codes in the analysis program R Studio together with the project manager to ensure the quality of the analysis results.

In principle, all data is anonymous. Still, if we need to, we will create a written agreement with those assisting the project manager in quality assurance of the dataset analysis with the project manager.

We will provide all or part of the R Studio codes we used for the data analysis to relevant journals during publication because other researchers need to be able to verify the research results by testing the codes on a different dataset.

Privacy

It won’t be possible for others to link your responses to you personally. We ensure that all collected data is thoroughly anonymized. This means that any identifiable information is removed or combined with other responses so that your answers can’t be traced back to you.

We collect background information such as gender, age, occupation, education, marital status, responsibility for dependents, type of employment contract, leadership role, and experience with emergency exercises and international operations. This information is used solely to analyze the data in a meaningful way and not to identify individuals.

You will not be identifiable upon publication because the survey is anonymous. Only aggregated data at the group level will be analyzed and presented.

Your rights

As long as you are identifiable in the dataset, you have the right to object to, request access to, rectify, and request deletion of information we process about you. However, identifying you in this dataset will be very difficult because we would need to do so by way of your personal information, which we do not collect or access.

If you still wish to withdraw from the survey, you can contact us at sporreundersokelse@ffi.no and provide information that allows us to identify your responses. We will respond to your request within one month. We will explain to you if we believe we cannot determine your responses or if you cannot exercise your rights.

You also have the right to file a complaint with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) regarding how we process your data.

What gives us the right to process your data?

We process your data based on your consent.

We process your information for purposes related to scientific research and because we consider the research project to be in the public interest.

The privacy services at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and the Norwegian Defence University College have assessed that the processing of background information and your responses in the survey are in accordance with privacy regulations.

If you have any questions or wish to exercise your rights, please contact the project manager at: sporreundersokelse@ffi.no.

You also have the right to file a complaint with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) regarding how we process your data.

What happens to your data when the research project concludes?

We plan to conclude the project in the fall of 2025, and the project manager will defend the doctoral dissertation in early 2026 unless there are any delays in the project for various reasons.

We will store the data on approved security systems for up to five years (we store the data in a cloud service) after the project concludes, meaning until 2030. We do this to ensure access to the data for the project manager, either through FFI's security systems or by transferring it to another approved security system in the defense and security sector. This solution aims to facilitate traceability as well as any revisions and updates during the publication phase and traceability.

We will delete the data in 2030 unless there are any unexpected delays in the completion of the project.

No other person at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment or within the Armed Forces will have access to the data, nor will your employer or labor union.

You can also find more information about FFI’s privacy policy here.