This section is still being revised.
Archie has been designed to protect the privacy of the personal information it contains in various ways.
Entity administrators are responsible for setting up user accounts for members of their entities and thereby control who has access to Archie. Archie One is an internal resource, and only persons actively involved with The Cochrane Collaboration should be given user accounts.
Among users of Archie, different roles within an entity entail different levels of user permissions. Each entity will have one or more Super Users that have broader permissions than other users (such as Authors, Staff, etc.), including the ability to export data, edit contact details, and view hidden information on their members. Only a few core people in each entity should be assigned user rights at this level. In a review group, it is normally the ME who decides who should have these rights. See Permissions.
Within an individual record, addresses, email addresses, and mobile phone numbers can be marked as Hidden (see Editing a person and About addresses). Such information will be visible only to the Super User(s) of the primary entity for the person and to the person him/herself. Other users, including Super Users from other entities, will only be able to see that the information has been marked as Hidden. A person's name and entity role(s) cannot be hidden and will be visible to all users.
In all individual records, the optional information on Country of origin and Sex included under the Info tab will be visible only to the Super User(s) of the primary entity and to the person him/herself.
Any user of Archie may add a note to any person’s record via the Notes tab of the person's Properties. The author of the note controls who will be able to read the note by making it one of four types: a public, entity administrative, or private note. See About Notes.
Members of IMS Support have access to nearly all information stored about individuals, including hidden information. The exceptions are notes that are private (not shared with anyone else) and administrative notes that are shared only within a particular entity.
System Administrators have access to all information stored in the database.
Some information in Archie may be used for the purpose of reporting to the Steering Group. For instance, the Monitoring and Registration Group may use the ‘hidden’ information on country of origin and sex for monitoring purposes. Entities will be kept informed about which data are extracted, who the data are shared with, and for what purpose.
An individual has the right to request a report about the information stored about him/her in Archie, provided that the information is accessible to more than one user. This means, for example, that notes that are shared between persons about a third person must be made available to that person upon request.
Standard users should not export addresses or create mass mailings, and are only given access to the contact details of other members of the Collaboration to enable them to look up individuals. In support of that policy, standard users can only export 25 results.