Question

The level of privacy protection required is based on the identifiability of the information. which of the following is not a category of identifiability set out in the tcps 2?

a. indirectly identifying information.
b. anonymized information.
c. coded information.
d. secret information.
e. anonymous information.

Answer 1

The category 'secret information' is not a category of identifiability set out in the TCPS 2. The TCPS 2 identifies categories such as indirectly identifying information, anonymized information, coded information, and anonymous information for determining the level of privacy protection needed.

Step-by-step explanation:

The level of privacy protection required is based on the identifiability of the information. The categories of identifiability set out in the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2) are as follows:

1. Indirectly identifying information refers to data that, alone, cannot identify a person, but when combined with other available information, could do so;
2. Anonymized information is data that has been processed to remove or alter information that might serve to identify an individual, and the process is not reversible;
3. Coded information is information that has substitutable identifiers, where the code can be used to re-identify the participants if necessary, usually through a separate master key;
4. Anonymous information is data that never had identifiers linked to it, and the individual cannot be identified by the information provided.

The category that is not part of the TCPS 2's identifiability categories is 'secret information'. This term does not correlate with the standard types of data identifiability as outlined in the TCPS 2.