Financial data and rights
Financial risk research depends on data that is often licensed, confidential, personal or commercially sensitive. This page sets out how The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) decides whether a source may be used, at what sensitivity, and whether a finding derived from it may be published. Permission to use data is not permission to publish it, and permission to publish a finding is not permission to redistribute raw data. This page belongs to research and intelligence.
- 01InstitutionThe Global Risks Alliance (GRA)
- 02Service levelR0: information and enquiries
- 03In briefThe short answer
- 04Three questionsBefore any source is used
- 05Data classesHow common financial-risk data is licensed
- 06GeodataLocation makes data sensitive
- 07Sensitivity levelsHow data is handled by kind
GRA · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Financial data and rights at GRA is the process for deciding whether a source may be used, at what sensitivity, and whether a finding from it may be published. Permission to use data is not permission to publish it, competitor data never passes between competitors, and industry data is aggregated before use.
Draft to published version.
Fig.How a finding is reviewed before it is published. Design, not a record.
Digital demand and connectivity in Africa.
Urban demand centres and the hubs that anchor digital and data infrastructure, shown for Africa as an example geography for this subject.
Before any source is used.
- 01
Permission
Under what licence or agreement was the data obtained, and does it allow this use, by this team, for this purpose?
- 02
Sensitivity
Does it contain personal data, a firm's confidential or competitively sensitive information, or security-relevant detail?
- 03
Publication suitability
Could a finding derived from it be published without breaching the licence, identifying a firm or person, or creating a security risk?
How common financial-risk data is licensed.
| Class | Examples | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Open public data | Copernicus Sentinel data, Natural Earth, JRC GHSL, BIS statistics | Used with attribution under stated terms |
| Free to read, restricted reuse | Some industry deal directories and market reports | Cited, not redistributed |
| Licensed commercial | Vendor catastrophe models, asset-level databases | Used only where the licence allows, results only |
| Confidential contributed | Member exposure data | Aggregated so no firm is identifiable; never shared between competitors |
| Personal data | Policyholder or borrower records | Not collected |
Location makes data sensitive.
Precise coordinates can identify a firm's portfolio or a household. GRA aggregates exposure to grids or administrative areas before any publication and records the resolution used. Data governance questions are discussed at GRF data governance and sharing.
How data is handled by kind.
| Kind of data | Handling |
|---|---|
| Public and openly licensed | Used and cited under its licence; attribution kept |
| Commercially licensed | Used within the licence; raw data never redistributed |
| Contributed by a firm | Used only within the rights the firm grants; aggregated before analysis so no firm can be identified |
| Personal data | Avoided wherever possible; where unavoidable, minimised and handled under this site's privacy notice |
| Security-relevant | Restricted to those who need it; never published in a form that would aid an attack |
Competitor data never passes between competitors.
Because GRA's participants compete, data contributed by one firm is never shown to another. Industry data used in research is aggregated so that no individual firm can be identified, and the aggregation is designed to prevent reverse engineering of a firm's position. These rules form part of a written competition policy that counsel reviews before membership opens.
The wider safeguards are set out on antitrust and competition.
What contributors keep.
Your rights stay yours
Contributors keep their background rights. Participation or membership transfers none.
Leaving a project
A contributor may withdraw and ask for data to be returned or deleted within agreed terms.
What was used
Each publication records its sources and the rights under which they were used.
Further standards are on evidence and data standards; related research areas: models and professional methods and country financial-readiness views. The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) sets out its own practice on data and privacy responsibilities.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Competitively sensitive information | Information on prices, costs, capacity or strategy whose exchange can reduce competition. |
| Data sharing agreement | A document setting out the purpose, legal basis, data, safeguards and responsibilities for sharing data between parties. |
| Licence | An authorisation from a sanctions authority permitting an otherwise prohibited activity. |
| Statistical disclosure control | Methods that reduce the risk of identifying individuals in published data, such as suppressing small counts. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Questions and answers.
Can I contribute data without it being published?
Does GRA sell data?
Is data shared with GCRI or GRF?
Where do I raise a data concern?
Around GRA.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.