by Angela Guess
David Loshin recently discussed a few issues concerning data sharing and data release. Loshin writes, “here were two facets of data sharing and data release (as manifested by the concept of transparency, but can be expanded to any situation where there is data repurposing) that differ from the traditional view of data.”
He continues, “The first facet is that once the data producer has made the data set freely available, that data producer effectively loses control over the use as well as the longevity of the data. Even attempts to restrict the use are limited. For example, if you recall a few years back when AOL released a data set of web searches that turned out to have exposed protected data? Of course they pulled the data set after that was revealed, but just now I was able to find a copy of that data set for download. Despite the intent to regain control and restrict access, that data set’s lifetime has been extended because it was made freely available. I could summarize this first point as this: once released, a data set can have an extended life time.”
photo credit: Vu What When
