CIMES - Estonia

General conditions

Statistics Estonia can disseminate microdata (including confidential microdata) for scientific research purposes. Microdata may be accessed by legal persons or agencies, not freelance natural persons, after approval of a written application by the Confidentiality Committee (an internal body of Statistics Estonia), signature of an agreement with the legal person having submitted the application, and signature of a confidentiality pledge by all researchers involved in the project.

Conditions for non-resident researchers

Non-resident researchers may have access under the same conditions as national researchers.

Conditions for students

Master's and Doctoral students may have access under the same conditions as confirmed researchers.

Legal framework

Official Statistics Act of 2010.

How much does it cost?

Currently (July 2014), the use of remote execution service is free of charge. Use of confidential data in the safe centre is free of charge, though the user needs to pay for data preparation (EUR 100 for one dataset for one year; every subsequent year EUR 50). For data that needs further preparation, cost depends on the number of working hours needed, at a price of EUR 10.23 per hour (not subject to VAT).
These prices are expected to change later in 2014.

How long does it take to obtain data?

From reception of an application, the Confidentiality Committee makes a decision within 10 working days. Actual access may take longer depending on the time it takes to prepare and sign the agreement (and if applicable, to prepare the data files).

Information on access

For further details: https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/request-statistics

Other

Official Statistics Act: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/eli/ee/506012015002/consolide/current 
Other legal documents: https://www.stat.ee/en/statistics-estonia/about-statistics-estonia/lega…
Online access to Public Use Files: https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat
Application form: https://estat.stat.ee/sa-auth/login?TARGET=https%3A%2F%2Festat.stat.ee%…
Prices: https://www.stat.ee/sites/default/files/2024-01/Prices%20of%20contract%…
Access to safe centre: https://www.stat.ee/en/find-statistics/request-statistics/use-confident…
Remote execution service: https://www.stat.ee/en/guidelines-for-using-confidential-data#Receipt-o…

Public Use Files (PUF)

Data can be downloaded from the web and access is free, though registration is required.

Scientific Use Files (SUF)

A written application must be submitted. Statistics Estonia provides an online form, but it is not required to use it provided the following information is included:

• name of legal person or agency;
• registration code of legal person or agency;
• title of the research;
• objective of the research;
• name of the statistical action or a list of data necessary for the research;
• data from other sources which the applicant wishes to link with the data applied for;
• list of persons wishing to use the data;
• if use of personal data is involved, confirmation by Data Protection Inspectorate that security measures are sufficient and, if there is an ethics committee, its advice;
• if use of sensitive personal data is involved, confirmation by Data Protection Inspectorate that processing of sensitive personal data has been registered.

The Confidentiality Committee examines applications, looking at both risk of re- identification and sensitivity (potential impact of identification). If both are low, then data can be delivered to the user, on CD-ROM or via FTP server.

Secure Use Files (SecUF)

A written application must be submitted (as above) and is assessed by the Confidentiality Committee. If both risk of re-identification and sensitivity are high, then data can be accessed only through Statistics Estonia's onsite safe centres (in Tallinn and Tartu). If both are less high, then secure remote access can be used. In some cases a secure remote execution system is also available.

• Estonian Household Budget Survey (HBS)
• Estonian Labour Force Survey (LFS)
• Estonian Social Survey (ESS)

The pages above provide information on microdata disseminated at the national level by the statistical institutes in the European countries and on microdata disseminated by Eurostat.  The pages describe the data and the procedures for requesting access as well as the available types of microdata files (Public Use Files, Scientific Use Files, and Secure Use Files).

This information was initially collected by CASD/GENES for the CIMES database developed for Data without Boundaries project (funded by the 7th Framework Programme, the EU's research funding programme between 2007 and 2013). CIMES stands for Centralising and Integrating Metadata from European Statistics. Various organisations (ADP, CED, CNRS-Réseau Quetelet, FORS, GESIS, RODA, ONS, and UL) contributed to the creation of CIMES by collecting and structuring the metadata for the period of the Data without Boundaries project (2011-2015). In 2021, Eurostat moved the CIMES database to the CROS platform to facilitate updates of countries' information. Eurostat would like to thank all CIMES developers, especially CASD, for sharing the CIMES database and for all efficient collaboration.