Data License

Typically, we analyze datasets already provided by our organization. However, there are many cases where we enrich the data with external datasets downloaded from the web or other sources. However, before using this data, we must consider the legal rights associated with the data. Data may be subject to copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property protection. Additionally, personal information contained within the data may be subject to privacy laws. These legal considerations can make it difficult to determine which data we can use.

A license is an agreement between someone who holds the copyright to a piece of work and someone who wants to use that work.

Types of licenses

Before using a dataset, we analyze its associated license. Some licenses may have specific requirements, such as giving credit to the original creator or sharing any modifications to the data with the community. The most common types of licenses include the following:

• Public Domain licenses state that the data is free to use, distribute, and modify without restrictions. This is the most permissive license type and is often used for data created by government agencies or other public entities.

• Creative Commons licenses have several different types, including Attribution (CC BY), Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA), and Attribution-NoDerivatives (CC BY-ND). Each license type has different requirements, such as giving credit to the original creator and allowing others to use, modify, and distribute the data. The most common one is the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. This license allows us to use the data for any purpose without attribution.

• Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL) is similar to CC0 but requires we waive our moral rights to the data. This means we can’t claim data ownership or say we created it.

• Open Data Licenses typically require the data to be available to the public free of charge and in a machine-readable format.

• Free for non-commercial use licenses allow us to use the data for non-commercial purposes only.

• Free academic licenses allow the use of data for academic research and educational purposes only.

• Paid licenses require payment for the use of the data. The terms and conditions of the license, such as the amount to be paid, the duration of the license, and the permitted uses of the data, are specified in the license agreement.