Licensing and Reuse
Every dataset published in the open data catalogue of the Velocity Interoperability Network is released under the Network Open Data Licence, adopted by the Data Office on 6 September 2026. The licence is a single set of terms that applies to all publishing bodies, so that users of the catalogue need not consider the terms of each department or network service separately.
The licence is deliberately permissive. Data published by the Network has been collected at public expense in the course of public administration, and the Office's position is that its value is realised when it is used: by member organisations, by researchers, by businesses and by the public. The only conditions are that the source is acknowledged, that the Network is not represented as endorsing what others do with its data, and that no attempt is made to identify individuals from data that has been aggregated to protect them.
Terms of the licence. The terms below summarise the licence; the full text accompanies every dataset in the catalogue.
- You may
- Copy, publish, distribute and transmit the data; adapt it; combine it with other data; and use it for any purpose, including commercial purposes, without payment and without asking permission.
- You must
- Acknowledge the publishing body as the source of the data, using the attribution statement given in the dataset's metadata, and state the date of the release you used. Where you adapt the data, you must make clear that the adapted version is your own work.
- You may not
- Present the data, or anything derived from it, as endorsed by the publishing body or the Network; use it in a way that suggests official status for your own work; or attempt to identify any individual from data that has been aggregated or anonymised.
- The licence does not cover
- Personal information; data marked as restricted in the register of data holdings; logos, emblems and wordmarks of the Network and its bodies; or third-party data that a publishing body has reproduced under its own terms, which is identified as such in the metadata.
Restricted and personal data. Data that is classified as restricted, or that contains personal information at the level of individual records, is not published and is not covered by the licence. It is released only under a written agreement between the Office, the controlling body and the recipient. The table below sets out the instruments under which the Network's data is released.
| Instrument | Applies to | Available to | Principal conditions | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network Open Data Licence | Every dataset in the open data catalogue | Anyone | Attribution; no endorsement; no re-identification | Perpetual, unless withdrawn for breach |
| Restricted Data Agreement | Holdings classified as restricted | Departments, network services, member organisations and researchers, for a stated purpose | Stated purpose only; no onward sharing; security measures; destruction at end of term | Fixed term, normally 12 months, renewable |
| Personal Data Sharing Agreement | Record-level personal data | Bodies with a lawful basis for processing, for a stated purpose | Stated purpose only; minimisation; no re-identification of aggregated data; individuals' rights preserved | Fixed term, normally 12 months, renewable |
| Subject access release | Personal data about the requester | The individual concerned | None; the data is the requester's own | Not applicable |
Agreements are drafted by the Office on a standard form, with the purpose, the data, the security measures and the term specified in a schedule. The controlling body must consent to every agreement concerning its data, and the Office keeps a register of agreements in force which is published in aggregated form in its quarterly report.
Questions on licensing and reuse. The answers below address the questions most often put to the Office about reusing its data.
Questions not answered here may be sent to contact@data.gov.vin. For the standards to which data is published, see Data Standards; for general questions about the Office and its catalogue, see the frequently asked questions.