[okfn-discuss] what are the arguments against open data

Tue Oct 8 09:52:07 UTC 2013

On Tue, Oct 08, 2013 at 03:00:39PM +0530, Mr. Puneet Kishor wrote:
> 
> On Oct 8, 2013, at 2:33 PM, Karsten Gerloff <gerloff at fsfeurope.org> wrote:
> 
> > On Mon, Oct 07, 2013 at 03:25:30PM -0700, Gene Shackman wrote:
> >> Ewan Klein asked an excellent question on identifying specific demonstrations of the benefits of open data. That made me wonder about a related question: what are the arguments against open data?
> > 
> > In practice, the main argument I've heard against open data is
> > that it might harm privacy.
> 
> 
> 
> Individual human privacy and security, cultural sensitivity, and national security come to mind as reasons against open public sector or individual private data.
> 
> 
> 
> > This is usually raised by people who
> > are new to the field, and is for the most part easily countered.
> 
> 
> 
> While I would not consider myself completely new to the field, I would love to know the arguments that would counter the above reasons.

It's worth noting that when I heard the objections I pointed out,
it was usually in discussions with public-sector people who were
unfamiliar with the open data concept. 

Some quick replies to the concerns you're listing: 

 - individual privacy: I don't think anyone is suggesting that
   hospitals should publish personal medical information about
   their patients. There are huge amounts of public sector data
   that can be released without any harm to anyone's privcay, and
   with great benefit to the public.

 - cultural sensitivity: Not sure what you're referring to
   exactly, though I guess it intersects with privacy at least
   partly. But again, publishing municipal budgets, procurement
   data and information on potholes isn't objectionable in any
   culture I'm familiar with. (Except to corrupt people who are
   running municipal administrations, of course.)

 - national security: Again, there may be good reasons for not
   releasing data on some things. We should weigh the benefits
   available from publication against the risks it causes, and
   default towards transparency. 

   OTOH, as we've learned from Edward Snowden, most governments
   these days have fully transparent citizens. So why shouldn't
   citizens have more transparent governments?

All these arguments share a common structure: Basically, there are
some areas where there are good reasons not to publish data. But
these specific concerns and limitations don't invalidate the
approach as a whole.

> 
> --
> Puneet Kishor

-- 
Karsten Gerloff                      [ ]   <gerloff at fsfeurope.org>
Free Software Foundation Europe   [ ][ ][ ]      [http://fsfe.org]
President                            | |         +49 176 9690 4298
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