Getting a dedicated connection
What is a dedicated connection?
A dedicated connection is unique to your service. It covers the data being delivered to or collected from an individual’s personal data store and the defined use cases for that data. Together these form the basis of the contract between you and the citizen called a data sharing agreement.
Requesting a dedicated connection is done online via your own Connection Manager account.
You can set up as many dedicated connections as you need. Once you have set up your connection you can submit it to Mydex CIC for approval and deployment onto the Sandbox which will enable you to test your connection and service.
When you are ready to launch your connection or service, you can request that it be promoted to the live platform.
All use of the Mydex Personal Data Exchange and Personal Data Store services are subject to the Mydex Terms for Subscribers which need to be accepted as part of the request process.
Connection Manager
Please register for the Mydex Connection Manager Web App to set up a dedicated connection. You can also request your own API key via this app.
You can start the request process and save and return to it, if you need to. For example, you may find you need to discuss aspects of your requirement with colleagues e.g. range of data involved, the specific use cases for the data and of course your GDPR compliance declaration. There is a small amount of technical information required so that we can whitelist your connection within our platform.
To begin creating and managing connections simply select [Create new connection] in the Manage Connections panel on the home page:
Required information, a checklist.
All sections of the dedicated connection request have pop up help if you need more information. If you have any specific questions please email developersupport@mydex.org.
The checklist below sets out the range of information required to set up a dedicated connection:
- Company name and (at least one instance of) contact details.
- A logo/icon representing the organisation.
- Data-sets/fields to be included in your connection.
- The use-cases that the connection is to be used for.
- Name and description of any connections you want to request.
- The call-back URL that will connect us to your endpoint.
- If the connection is to be live or for use on our sandbox.
Submitting your request.
Once you are happy that your request is complete, simply press submit and we will be notified of the new request. The status of the request will move from Draft to Requested.
If you subsequently realise that you need to make changes you can edit the request which will return it to draft status.
What information is returned from Mydex CIC?
Once your connection is approved you will see the following information presented back to you as follows:
- Confirmation of the dedicated connection being set up based on the information you have provided.
- Two unique identifiers that need to be sent with new connection requests and any requests for data or delivery of data. These are:
- Connection Node ID
- Connection Key
What else can I do?
Once you have connections, you can manage them by selecting [Manage existing connections] from the Connections Panel on the homepage. There you will find a list of your existing connections with action items listed against each of them on the right hand side:
view the connection as a whole page.
edit any given connection.
clone a connection.
promote a connection to live.
View connections: You can view requests in two ways. Online as part of the connection management process enabling you to step through each section and by generating a single page view of the connection which you can print out if you wish.
Edit connections: Connections can be editted at any stage of the process. In the case where a connection request has already been submitted, the connection will be returned to draft status.
Clone connections: You may wish to clone a connection, particularly if you are requesting multiple similar connections, or identical connections across more than one different Subscribing organisation, for example.
Request to promote a connection to live: Once you have tested your connection on the sandbox environment and you are ready for it to go live, you can request this simply by clicking on the promote to live icon.