The present and future of the Five Safes framework

The Five Safes has become the default framework for confidential data governance across multiple sectors and countries. Since its inception in 2003, the approach has influenced data management in many ways, particularly in the public sector. As it has become established and widely used, both its advantages and limitations have come to the fore, along with an understanding of modern data management principles. This paper explores the history, application, strengths and limitations in the Five Safes. It discusses the different variations on the framework over time, as well as recent suggestions for deepening or extending the framework. Finally we discuss the framework’s relationship to the emerging preference for principles-based regulation and design, showing how there is a concordance between the two which may lead to a new consensus on good data governance design models.