Data Relationship Health Check

This is a quick tool that you can use when examining the equity implications of your data relationship. To learn about data relationships and the interplay of price, value, ownership, and profit, check out the original article here.

Data equity is about power dynamics and one of the most important dynamic in any data process is the type of relationship you are setting up with the people who are the source of your data. If you’re not quite ready to figure out exactly how to label your relationship (ugh labels, am I right?), we’d like to offer a few primer questions.

If your answer to any of these questions is “I don’t know”, then you’ve got some work to do.

At We All Count, we think that almost any style of data relationship (donor, seller, partner, investor, etc.) can be very equitable as long as it’s intentional, transparent, and both parties have some say in what kind of a relationship it is.

Price

Price is what is paid for the data. It is distinct from profit, which is the result of the collection and use of the data.

• What is the price being offered for the data?
• In what form?
• Money
• Discounts
• Tax Incentives
• Goods