Submission of data

In general, microdata may only contain information to be used for the specific project. Therefore, variables that will not be used must be removed before microdata is submitted to Research Service.

Only approved external microdata: Before external microdata is submitted to Research Service, their use in a specific project must be approved. The external microdata shall be subject to an approved project proposal.

Only the key variables to be used: Only the key variables — e.g. the personal identification number — that are to be used to link the external microdata with the other data on the project may be included. Other key variables, e.g. foreign keys that are not to be used, must be removed before microdata is submitted to Research Service.

Only numerical variables and categorised text variables: Only the numeric and categorised text variables to be used for the project may be included. Variables that are not expected to be used must be deleted before external microdata is submitted to Research Service.

No names and answers with free text: External microdata must comply with the same requirements for discretion as Statistics Denmark uses. This means that information that approximately identifies individuals or companies may not be included in external microdata — e.g. personal names and responses with free text in surveys. Such variables must be removed or categorised before external microdata is provided to the Research Service.

External microdata may be provided in the following formats:

• .ASC
• .CSV
• .DTA
• .ODS
• .PDF
• .SAS7BCAT
• .SAS7BDAT
• .SAV
• .XLS
• .XLSX

External microdata must be documented. The documentation shall contain the following:

1. Project number of the project the external microdata is approved to be used in
2. Name or names of variables to be deidentified, i.e. the variables that will be used to link the external microdata with other data in the project. For example, variables with personal numbers
3. If the external microdata contains multiple keys to connect e.g. multiple external datasets, these variables must also be highlighted
4. Once the external data has been delivered and documentation submitted, it is recommended to notify the project manager in Research Service by email.

Send the documentation to the project responsible in Research Service.

Users of the Research Service can use our upload solution, FSE-Upload. Upload via FSE-Upload is done via a secure connection and external microdata can therefore be uploaded immediately.

Instructions for uploading data (in Danish)

Data can be sent via secure email to forskerpost@dst.dk in one of the following two ways.

1. The institution have to collect Statistics Denmark’s certificate at our page for downloading security certificates. Select forskerpost@dst.dk. The VCF format is recommended for Outlook.
   External microdata must then be sent to forskerpost@dst.dk. Always enter the project number and project responsible in Research Service in the subject field of the e-mail and inform the project responsible in Research Service directly once the external microdata is sent.
   Statistics Denmark does not provide support for encryption and Digital Signature. Instead, refer to NemID’s website for secure email (website is only available in Danish)
2. The institution can use secure tunnel encryption (SEPO). The setup is individual for different institutions and is carried out by the institution’s IT department, which should be involved before external microdata is submitted.
   Always enter the project number and inform the project responsible in Research Service that the email has been sent with tunnel encryption (SEPO). If tunnel encryption is used, external microdata must also be sent to forskerpost@dst.dk

For data security reasons, it is recommended that one of the two options above is used.

If this is not possible (e.g. if the files are very large), then password-protected external microdata can also be delivered on physical media directly to Statistics Denmark at the address below. The project responsible in Research Service and project number must always appear on the submitted material:

Statistics Denmark, Servicedesk
Sankt Kjelds Plads 11
2100 København Ø

ATT. Project responsible for the project in Research Service
Regarding project number: 70XXXX

External microdata can either be delivered in person at Statistics Denmark’s reception or be sent recommended to Statistics Denmark on a physical medium (DVD, CD-ROM or USB connector that is not returned). When delivered on a physical medium, the external microdata must be password protected. Password should not be provided with the physical medium.

Once the external microdata is received, the password must be sent by email to the project responsible in Research Service.