How NCLDS Works and Other FAQs

To help North Carolinians understand more about how their data are protected, accessed, and used, and to help NCLDS users of all backgrounds understand more about how the service works, we have developed two approaches to sharing more information about NCLDS: The How NCLDS Works series and NCLDS Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers).

How NCLDS Works (HNW) is an evolving series of briefs intended to address questions about various aspects of the service that are not easily answerable in a paragraph or two. Each brief has been written in a way that we hope will make it accessible even to audiences without data, analysis, or technical backgrounds, but please share with us any feedback about how we can make the briefs more accessible, or any other topics you would like to see covered.

Currently Available HNW Briefs:

Planned Future Briefs:

Cross-Sector NCLDS Governance
Security and Privacy
Making Data Requests
Fulfilling Data Requests
Linking Data: Prospects for ad hoc Matching
Creating Practitioner Portals
Cross-Sector Learning Goals
Reviewing and Approving Data Requests
Reviewing Externally-Produced NCLDS Products
Using the Public Data Dictionary

Because NCLDS is a new service, this FAQ section currently is limited in scope but will expand as NCLDS grows and as we receive more questions about the service.

Overview of NCLDS

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NCLDS works with data partners and other stakeholders to connect data from early childhood, K12 education, postsecondary, and employment to help evaluate the longer-term impacts and longer-term successes of various state programs—all while protecting the privacy and security of personal information. Most states have functioning SLDSs similar to NCLDS. In fact, North Carolina has several SLDSs, many of which collaborate with NCLDS.

Data and Data-Sharing

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NCLDS does not collect data; instead, it uses data already collected by its partners. None of the data shared by these partners includes sensitive information such as name, address, religious or political affiliation, voting records, or private medical information.

The NCLDS Data Inventory (Data Dictionary) lists all data elements currently available via NCLDS.

De-identified, individual-level (sometimes called “record-level”) data may only be shared with Data Requesters for purposes authorized in federal and state law. Access to these data requires a Data Requester to complete a rigorous application process. The request for data is reviewed by representatives from each data provider impacted by the data request. All reviewers must approve the request; if even one reviewer does not approve, the request is not granted.

NCLDS also shares publicly available aggregated (summarized) data products created by the NCLDS Team and authorized partners.

All data shared by NCLDS with approved Data Requesters must be in either aggregated or de-identified format.

NCLDS data-sharing policies and all other related policies and rules have been developed over several years in public meetings by teams of representatives from the agencies and organizations that provide data to NCLDS.

To request data that is not already available on this website in aggregate form, you must complete an NCLDS Request Form.

The length of the data request process varies depending on the number of requests in progress, the complexity of the request, and the number of data providers who need to review the request. You can find more information about the process for requesting custom datasets (including information about the estimated length of time required for each step in the request process) here.

Data Matching

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Many state agencies and other organizations already have developed approaches to linking data that includes use of universal IDs or common matching protocols. However, for the most part, these IDs and protocols are limited to data within a specific sector (like education or health). The Government Data Analytics Center (GDAC, the home of NCLDS) is working on ways to connect data from any source and across any sector boundaries.

Data Privacy/Security

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Data are housed in a secured environment that has been validated by the North Carolina Department of Information Technology. There also are many check-points—both virtual and physical—that an NCLDS team member must navigate before gaining access to NCLDS’s servers and networking equipment. Direct access to data being prepared by NCLDS is restricted to only the NCLDS personnel responsible for the management of the system and the processing of data requests—not even the NCLDS Executive Director has direct access to the data.

NCLDS guidelines and policies prohibit personally-identifiable data from being made public, in compliance with all state and federal laws—and there are many such laws.

In fact, many Data Requesters will only see summary-level (not person-level) data, and protections even extend to those data (sometimes called "aggregated" data) even though summary data does not include any individual information to begin with - via a process called "small-cell suppression."

NCLDS also redacts (removes or blocks) individual data elements not otherwise protected by state or federal laws when it is the standing practice of a Data Contributor to do so.

Finally, requests for record-level data can only be made by vetted Data Requesters who have completed a formal Data Request and whose reasons for requesting the data have been reviewed and validated at four different points by all of the Contributors that manage the data being requested.

How NCLDS Works and Other FAQs