Transporting Research Data

TRANSPORTING RESEARCH DATA

ELECTRONIC DATA TRANSPORT

Mass General Brigham has an electronic data travel policy, which is set forth in the July 30, 2020 Travel Alert. An updated travel guidenace was released in July 2021.

SHORT TERM INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Copies of data may be provided to researchers who are leaving on a short-terms basis (e.g., to visit family or their home institutions.) Travelers must have written authorization from their PI (or Chief if the PI is traveling). Prior to departure the traveler must obtain a letter from the PI (on official institutional letterhead with the PI’s signature). See the Travel Authorization Template. Travelers should keep the documentation on their person throughout their journey from airport departure until return to Mass General Brigham.

OFF-BOARDING/PERMANENTLY LEAVING MGB

We strongly recommend that Mass General Brigham researchers whose employment has ended and who are traveling by plane NOT travel with MGB data on their electronic devices. Devices may be searched by Customs (CPB) and/or Department of Transportation (DOT) officials and seized if the traveler does not have documentation deemed appropriate by the reviewing federal official. PIs should investigate MGB alternative data transfer methods summarized in this guidance document.

We also strongly recommend that investigators do NOT travel with non‐Mass General Brigham data, e.g., dissertation data from a non‐Mass General Brigham institution, on an electronic device. There have been several instances where these data have not been returned to the traveler or held for months by the federal agency delaying research programs or graduation.

Follow your hospital/department’s transfer‐out procedures when departing permanently for another institution. With PI approval, copies of data may be shared with the departing investigator under a Data Use Agreement (DUA) negotiated by the appropriate Mass General Brigham Contracting Office. While, as noted above, we strongly encourage other means of transfer, if the data are included on the departing investigator’s electronic device(s) and they are traveling by plane, they must have a fully executed DUA for CPB or DOT officials or risk seizure of their device(s) and data.