Safe data access: The Five Safes

OpenSAFELY follows the Five Safes framework for data access to allow safe and efficient use of data. This framework models data access into 5 independent dimensions:

• Safe projects - does the project make good use of the data?
• Safe people - are the researchers using the data appropriately trained and aware of their role in data protection?
• Safe data - what is the potential for individuals to be identified in the data?
• Safe settings - are there technical controls on access to the data?
• Safe outputs - is there any residual risk in outputs being released from the environment?

You can read more about how we use the Five Safes Framework to design the OpenSAFELY platform in our blog post The ‘Five Safes’ Framework and applying it to OpenSAFELY.