1) A data licence sets out how data can be reused and attributed. It is recommended that all data intended for reuse have a licence, whether open or restrictive, to promote safe and proper reuse. 2) The Creative Commons suite of licences are commonly used with 6 options ranging from most open to most restrictive. The CC BY licence allows for reuse and redistribution with attribution. 3) Applying a clear licence to data promotes safe data sharing and prevents unintended misuse by clarifying how others can access and use the data.

1. Licensing Health and Sensitive Data
Gerry Ryder & Sarah Olesen, ANDS
Publishing & Sharing Health-y Data Seminar, 17 Sept, 2015
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2. What is a data licence?
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• A licence sets out how data can be
(re)used and attributed
• All Australian data intended for
reuse should have a licence

3. What is a data licence?
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• Licences come in various forms, from few to many restrictions
• Recommend Creative Commons suite – 6 licences
• http://www.ausgoal.gov.au/creative-commons-v4.0
• All CC licences allow some form of redistribution

4. What is a data licence?
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
CC BY (Attribution)
You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
for any purpose, even commercially.
Screenshot from: researchdata.ands.org.au

5. Why apply a licence?
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If you plan to share data ….
•Without a licence, it is unclear how the data can be re-used
•This may discourage re-use and inadvertently lead to
misuse/misattribution
•Promotes re-use and enables collaboration

6. How do I choose the right one?
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• To apply a license you must have the rights to do so
• Are you the ‘owner’?
• Choose least restrictive / most open licence that is appropriate
for your data
• CC-BY is recommended unless there are legal, ethical and/or
other compelling reasons not to
http://www.ausgoal.gov.au/the-ausgoal-licence-suite

7. How do I choose the right one?
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• Choose least restrictive / most open licence that is
appropriate for your data
• CC-BY is recommended unless there are legal, ethical and/or
other compelling reasons not to

8. Open
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• What is Open Access? (
http://www.ands.org.au/discovery/opendata.html)
• Freely available to download in a reusable form
• No/minimal restrictions
…ness?
• Why?
• Support key research values of
verification, replication,
transparency, collaboration,
innovation, efficiency…
• Make your data discoverable,
citable

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Consider:
1.Potential for identification (ref Privacy Law
and other policies you are bound by)
- Can/are data confidentialised?
2.Potential for harm/discrimination
3.Participant consent – Given? For what?
4.HREC approval
5.What re-use, re-distribution,
commercialisation, purposes are you happy
with? Are ethical?
How open can I be?

10. 10Screenshot from http://libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/
‘Conditional access’
Open Closed
Options when OA is not appropriate

11. Options when OA is not appropriate
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• Conditional access
• Metadata record is open, publically discoverable
• Access to data is conditional
• Typically, access by registration or application
• Australian Data Archive, Institutional repositories
• E.g. YODA Project
• Reduced version of the data open, more detail available by request
• Need for a ‘Restrictive Licence’

12. Restrictive Licence
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• Like CC licences, it sets out conditions of re-use and redistribution
• You can ‘bespoke’ your conditions
See: http://www.ausgoal.gov.au/restrictive-licence-template
• Can add/remove sections
• Have finalised by your Legal Office
*Check with your DM support, School/Department/Institution to see if
one already exists for you to repurpose

13. How do I apply a licence?
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• As simple at applying the marking (image) and/or statement
• http://creativecommons.org/about/downloads
• http://www.ausgoal.gov.au/sample-copyright-notices
• Make it visible on the document, record, and/or attached to the data
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License

14. Reusing health data
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• What can I do with it?
• Check licence terms. These will also affect whether or not, and how,
you can make data available to others at the end of your project.
• Attribute (i.e., cite) your source http://www.ands.org.au/cite-
data/index.html
‘Ford, J. (2015) Collection for the PALS (Pregnancy and Lifestyle Study), a community-based
study of lifestyle on fertility and reproductive outcome, [dataset], University of South
Australia, http://researchoutputs.unisa.edu.au/11541.1/’

15. Take away
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• Take control of your data assets! Be clear
about who may reuse your data and for
what purpose
• Consider conditional access when OA is not
appropriate
• Where no licence is applied, uncertainty
may lead to no reuse or inappropriate use
• Ensure you get the attribution you deserve