Open data is a community contribution, not a marketing exercise. The Open Data Policy defines what categories of Map.ca data can be released openly (aggregated civic-response metrics, anonymized usage statistics, taxonomy and tag structures, public-Pin geometries that owners have opted in to), the aggregation thresholds that prevent re-identification, the license under which open data is released, and the categories that never leave the platform regardless of how aggregated (sensitive locations, civic reports involving people, Indigenous community data without consent).
It applies to the Map.ca data team, external researchers and civic-data users, and Indigenous communities whose data touches the open-data pipeline.
Requirements
- Aggregate open-data releases to a threshold that prevents re-identification.
- Use a published, permissive open-data license.
- Honour Indigenous community consent on any dataset that touches Indigenous data.
- Publish a data-release log so reviewers can track what has gone out.
Prohibitions
- Do not openly release individual-level civic reports.
- Do not openly release datasets that can re-identify users.
- Do not release Indigenous-touching data without community consent.
- Do not release sensitive-location data, no matter how aggregated.