In July 2008 the Scottish Government commissioned Scott Moncrieff to review the data security procedures within eight research contractors who had regularly been commissioned to carry out social research on behalf of the Scottish Government.
The review identified that, in the main, research contractors had good procedures and processes in place to ensure compliance with data security principles. The two key issues to arise from the review were that there was a general absence of encryption of mobile devices which could potentially store data of a personal nature, and that there is a need for greater clarity regarding retention and deletion of research data.