There is a need in every user research project to design and manage ethically and legally sound research, including a data storage and destruction plan within a project.
During my first project, upon returning to the field following a career break to heal from ill mental health, my colleague raised some points of non-conformance in our research.
We were working with the Department for Education to research a project with recruiting surveyors to capture an institution's NET capacity for accepting pupils or students. Besides, we were tasked with understanding the relationship of communication between the surveying organisation, the institution (for example, a secondary school or further education college) and the responsible body for the institution (for example, a diocese for Roman Catholic schools or at Academy Trust).
I engaged with the transparency of the process and have taken learning points into my personal development.