G.O.(Ms).No.94, Data Sharing and Publication Protocol, 2016
The Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (ST.2&E) Department issued G.O.(Ms).No.94 dated 17 November 2016, authorising an addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, South Asia. The addendum establishes rules for data access, confidentiality, ownership and publication in policy research and evaluation projects, and does not state any change to land ownership or property administration.
What the document does
G.O.(Ms).No.94 dated 17 November 2016, issued by the Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (ST.2&E) Department, approves a Data Sharing and Publication Protocol as an addendum to the partnership between the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, South Asia. The partnership supports evidence based evaluation of anti-poverty programmes and policies.
The protocol is intended to protect official and personal data, create an approval process for access to programme data, clarify researchers' publication rights, and allow government departments and partnership committees to review proposed publications.
Who is affected
The Data Sharing and Publication Protocol applies to:
- The Government of Tamil Nadu and its departments participating in policy research, monitoring or evaluation.
- The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, South Asia, its affiliated researchers, officers, employees and consultants.
- Individuals, households, firms and other entities whose identifying information is collected during research studies.
The document does not describe any change affecting land records, property rights, land classification or property transactions.
Confidentiality and data access
The Data Sharing and Publication Protocol defines data as information collected for monitoring or evaluating a policy research project, including administrative data supplied by the Government of Tamil Nadu and relevant third party data.
Key protections include:
- Personally identifying or unit identifying information must remain confidential and cannot be disclosed publicly or to third parties.
- Confidential information may be shared only with project personnel who reasonably need it for the specific study.
- Aggregate statistics and information available under the Right to Information framework are not treated as confidential information.
- The Government of Tamil Nadu has no obligation to provide information considered sensitive under the cited provision of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
Ownership and publication
The Government of Tamil Nadu and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, South Asia jointly own data collected for a policy research project until publication of the first external academic paper containing the results. Neither party may release that data publicly or to another party before the researchers publish the paper in a peer reviewed journal.
Researchers may publish material that does not contain confidential information. A final project report must be provided to the Planning Department and the relevant nodal department at least thirty days before a publication submission. The Government of Tamil Nadu then has thirty days to review the report and request changes, particularly where confidential information may be disclosed.
Access to existing government monitoring, reporting or survey data requires an official request to the relevant department. Publication based on that data also requires approval from the Advisory Committee after considering the views of the relevant department.
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Common questions
Does G.O.(Ms).No.94 change my land ownership or property records?
No property or land record change is stated. G.O.(Ms).No.94 dated 17 November 2016 deals with data sharing, confidentiality and publication for government policy research and evaluation.
Can researchers publish personal information collected during a study?
No. Personally identifying or unit identifying information is confidential and must not be disclosed publicly or to third parties.
Can the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, South Asia access government programme data automatically?
No. It must submit an official request to the relevant government department for access to specific monitoring, evaluation or survey data.
Does the Government of Tamil Nadu review research before publication?
Yes. The final project report must be provided to the Planning Department and the relevant nodal department at least thirty days before publication submission, and the Government of Tamil Nadu has thirty days to review it and request changes.
