The team at the SLS Unit in Edinburgh work hard to make sure that no-one can recognise any SLS Members, and to make sure that the information we hold cannot fall into the wrong hands.

The very large number of Scottish people in the SLS (roughly 275,000 people were identified at the 2011 census) may make it more likely that you are an SLS member, but it also helps to make sure that no-one can pick you out amongst the whole group. We also make sure that researchers do not use very unusual groups in their analysis – such as ‘Hindus in the Western Isles’ or ‘people in Dunfermline aged over 100’ – because this might make it possible to recognise an individual person.

The information in the SLS can only be seen and used within a secure room within New Register House in Edinburgh. It is held on computers that are not connected to the internet. Researchers who come to use the SLS are carefully supervised, and are not allowed to take away any information before it has been checked by a member of the SLS-DSU team.