Commercial data contracts

Researchers may have gained or purchased data under a license or data sharing agreement, or may have downloaded or scraped data from a website owned by a private company.

In both cases the use and onward sharing of these data fall under the legally binding contractual terms and conditions of use, that will have been provided by the data owner. This may be hidden in small print.

Researchers should always check the contract, Ts&Cs on the website, or seek approval from the website /data owner, so they do not fall foul of any misuse, for example by passing on or republishing data. Read more on Intellectual property rights scenarios for data sharing.

Additionally, when gathering data form online discussion forums, blogs, or social media, researchers should seek clarity on whether explicit consent to reuse content is needed.