Computing environment

The FinnGen Sandbox is a specially designed computational environment that provides secure and scalable access to individual-level data. The FinnGen Sandbox enables FinnGen Partner researchers to access the genetic and health data to conduct analyses and research. It provides a controlled environment for researchers to explore the data while ensuring the privacy and security of the individual’s information. 

An authorised information security auditor company inspected the operating environment and issued a certificate of conformity with the requirements. The FinnGen Sandbox audit took place between August 2021 and April 2022. The certificate was granted on 20th April 2022 and is valid for five years.

Overall, the development of a secure analysis environment has been a very important project for the FinnGen study. Several million euros have been invested in developing the Sandbox, and it has taken many years to build the environment and complete the certification process.

The National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) keeps a public database of regulatorily compliant secure operating environments registered by service providers. By now, a total of eight audited secondary-use environments are registered in Finland. FinnGen Sandbox was the fourth environment to be granted approval and there are no pending nonconformities that should be fixed.