Data management and protection

Purpose of the project

Marital agreements are legal tools for managing assets, for example, to protect a family business, preserve inherited wealth, or otherwise organize a couple's finances. Under Swedish marriage law, spouses' property is, as a rule, divided equally in the event of divorce. The aim is to provide economic protection, particularly for the spouse with lower income or greater responsibility for the home and family. At the same time, couples can choose to deviate from this default by writing a marital agreement, in which they determine how their property will be divided.

Today, an estimated one in five married people has such an agreement. Despite this, we know surprisingly little about who writes marital agreements, what the agreements contain, and what consequences they have for economic security and gender equality. This is important to study because marital agreements, in practice, determine how economic resources and risks are distributed between spouses. They can strengthen individuals' economic independence but can also lead to increased inequality and greater financial vulnerability in the event of a separation.

How we handle personal data in the project

This research project studies marital agreements. Here, we explain what data we hold and how it is handled.

Ethical approval and data protection

The project has ethical approval from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority. We have also developed a comprehensive Data Management Plan, which describes procedures for secure storage, access control, and data processing in compliance with GDPR and Swedish data protection legislation. In addition, a Data Protection Impact Assessment has been completed and approved by Stockholm University, confirming that the planned infrastructure is suitable for handling sensitive administrative and legal documents.

What data do we hold?

We hold data on marital agreements registered with the Swedish Tax Agency. Marital agreements are public documents. The agreements are digitized, and variables are created based on their content, which can then be used for data analysis.

The structured data (the variables) is subsequently sent to Statistics Sweden (SCB), where it is linked to register data held by SCB. This includes, for example, demographic information (such as date of birth, sex, and marital status), family circumstances, housing, and financial circumstances. Following this process, researchers work with data that does not contain directly identifying information, such as names or personal identity numbers.

How we protect personal data

• The scanned marital agreements obtained from the Swedish Tax Agency are transferred and stored securely in encrypted, access-controlled storage at Stockholm University.
• Register data is handled exclusively within SCB's secure research environment, MONA. The data never leaves SCB's systems; all processing and analysis takes place in a protected environment with restricted access. The data does not contain any directly identifying information, such as names or personal identity numbers.
• Only researchers affiliated with the project have access to the material, and access is always tied to the purpose of the project.
• All processing is carried out in compliance with GDPR and Swedish data protection legislation and follows the procedures outlined in the project's Data Management Plan and Data Protection Impact Assessment.

How the results are reported

The research results are reported only at the group level. This means that it is not possible to see which data pertains to any specific individual. The research focuses on patterns and associations at the group level, not on individual agreements or personal finances.

Contact

Stockholm University is the data controller for the personal data processed in the project. If you have questions about how the data is handled, please contact:

Anne Boschini
anne.boschini@sofi.su.se
+46 8 16 22 29