The Center for Socio-Political Data (CDSP), which is one of the three data centers of the French network of data centers for social sciences, the Réseau Quetelet, is responsible for the documentation and dissemination of the surveys produced through the ELIPSS panel. The surveys are documented according to the Data Documentation Initiative international norm and are published online. They are listed in the survey catalogue of the Réseau Quetelet portal.

The data dissemination obeys all existing rules within the framework of the Réseau Quetelet. Furthermore, the files of the ELIPSS panel are freely accessible for research purposes. All commercial use is therefore prohibited.

What is a research purpose?

A research purpose is defined as the production of new knowledge or the replication of results that have already been validated. The research aim is assessed upon the description of the research project accompanying each data request. The results obtained from the data of the ELIPSS panel are public, freely available for distribution. They do not serve the particular interests of public or private institutions. 

Who can obtain the data of the ELIPSS panel?

The data is accessible to French and foreign researchers, PhD students, post-doctoral fellows and Master students.

How to obtain the data of the ELIPSS panel?

Once the purpose of research and the requester's status are checked by the CDSP, in order to obtain the data, requester will have to sign an user agreement in which he commits to:
- respect the confidentiality of the respondents, 
- not re-disseminate the data to a third party, 
- cite the data source in publications, 
- destruct the data file at the conclusion of the research.

When will the data files be available?

The first data files are accessible on the CDSP's Nesstar server and the Quetelet portal from the beginning of 2015.

To guarantee data confidentiality, it is impossible to match the individual data from the panel. Only a part of the ELIPSS annual survey is systematically matched with each survey file. Any request to match data drawn from several surveys (outside of the longitudinal surveys) is strictly monitored and submitted to the scientific and technical board and to the CNRS legal expert on data protection for review.

The matching of panel information with external data (tax, health, etc.) is precluded.

The ELIPSS panel has been declared to the National commission for data protection and privacy (CNIL) and is registered in the National Center for Scientific Research’s (CNRS) register under the number 2-12030. This statement accurately describes the information system used, the means used to ensure the security and confidentiality of data, survey administration (provided by the CDSP) and panel management procedures (carried out by the INED until January 2015).

The safety of the information collected from the ELIPSS panel is crucial. Personal data and survey data are stored in two different information systems. From a technical point of view, data encryption and restrictions implemented to monitor the data matching are further guarantees of confidentiality.
    
In addition, the users of the data have to sign a strict commitment of confidentiality (see Accessing the data) making them personally liable for illegal uses or contraries to the statistical confidentiality and protection of individual freedoms.

On top of that, survey projects submitted during calls for proposals and data matching requests are legally reviewed by the Correspondent Informatique et Libertés (CIL) of the CNRS. This is to ensure that only the appropriate, relevant, necessary and not excessive information will be recorded.