Our Story

For fourth-party non-personal and non-targeted uses of personal data, scientists, researchers, public policy planners, or urban planners, would have access to integrated de-identified data. The commons community needs to determine the protocols around consent to reuse and whether it should be highly granular or a community-level decision.

We think, however, in accordance with the underlying principles guiding the Data Commons, licence to undertake this form of analysis should be withdrawable in specific cases of data misuse, or when people don’t trust the user. And codes of conduct and ethical frameworks would likely be required for analysts using a Data Commons.

So, for example, in the specific case of the state sector’s new interest in Collective Impact social investing, the Data Commons community may agree that the government can have a restricted licence to use personal data via the Statistics NZ integrated data infrastructure. Since this is a crown entity, the data is de-identified, and there are strict controls and close supervision over use. This could then be used to develop investment strategies and monitor provider performance for Collective Impact investing.

The commons foundation is also likely to have some kind of market regulation role: looking at use and misuse and administering sanctions; developing community protocols and standards; redistributing surplus back to the commons; and growing the commons.