Heather Gowans

Researcher in Law

HeLEX: Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies

Other affiliations

Faculty of Law Lady Margaret Hall Wolfson College

Biography

Dr Heather Gowans is a Researcher in Law at the Centre for Health Law and Emerging Technologies (HeLEX) at the University of Oxford. Her work focuses largely on legal and regulatory issues concerning data protection, confidentiality and privacy.

Prior to joining the centre in 2008, Heather qualified and practised law as a barrister after obtaining a DPhil at Oxford. In her academic capacity, she has provided legal support to the ESRC-funded Administrative Data Liaison Service (ADLS) and the Administrative Data Research Network (ADRN) in relation to UK data protection legislation and the legal powers and implications of sharing data. She is currently providing legal support to the IMI funded DIRECT project (DIabetes REsearCh on patient straTification consortium). Heather also remains actively involved in a collaborative publications team within HeLEX.

Publications

Journal Article (8)

Mourby M, Gowans H, Aidinlis S, Smith H and Kaye J, “Governance of Academic Research Data under the GDPR—lessons from the UK” (2019) 9 International Data Privacy Law 192

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Bell J, Aidinlis S, Smith H, Mourby M, Gowans H, E Wallace S and Kaye J, “Balancing Data subjects’ Rights and Public Interest Research: Examining the Interplay Between UK Law, EU Human Rights Law and the GDPR” (2019) 5 European Data Protection Law Review 43

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Bell J, Wallace S, Mourby M, Gowans H, Aidinlis S, Smith H and Kaye J, “Lawful Disclosure of Administrative Data for Research Purposes in the UK” (2019) 2 Journal of Data Protection and Privacy 264

Elliot M, O’Hara K, Raab C, O’Keefe C, Mackey E, Dibben C, Gowans H, Purdam K and McCullagh K, “Functional Anonymisation: Personal Data and the Data Environment” (2018) 34 COMPUTER LAW & SECURITY REVIEW 204

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Mourby M, Mackey E, Elliot M, Gowans H, Wallace S, Bell J, Smith H, Aidinlis S and Kaye J, “Are ‘pseudonymised’ Data Always Personal Data? Implications of the GDPR for Administrative Data Research in the UK” (2018) 34 Computer Law and Security Review 222

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Kaye J, Kanellopoulou N, Hawkins N, Gowans H, Curren L and Melham K, “Can I Access My Personal Genome? The Current Legal Position in the UK”. (2014) 22 Medical law review 64

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Boddington P, Curren L, Kaye J, Kanellopoulou N, Melham K, Gowans H and Hawkins N, “Consent Forms in Genomics: The Difference Between Law and Practice”. (2011) 18 European journal of health law 491

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Curren L, Boddington P, Gowans H, Hawkins N, Kanellopoulou N, Kaye J and Melham K, “Identifiability, Genomics and U.K. Data Protection Law”. (2010) 17 European journal of health law 329

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Chapter (2)

Dibben C, Elliot M, Gowans H and Lightfoot D, “The Data Linkage Environment”, Methodological Developments in Data Linkage (2016)

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Hawkins N, Kanellopoulou N, Kaye J, Melham K, Boddington P, Curren L and Gowans H, “Ownership of Biomedical Information in Biobanks”, Comparative Issues in the Governance of Research Biobanks: Property, Privacy, Intellectual Property, and the Role of Technology (2012)

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Research Interests

Data protection legislation, governance

Research projects

ADLS (Administrative Data Liaison Service)
ADRN (Administrative Data Research Network)
DIRECT (DIabetes REsearCh on patient straTification consortium)

Research projects & programmes

Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies