{"id":524,"date":"2025-07-28T13:54:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T12:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/ngdc\/?page_id=524"},"modified":"2025-07-28T13:54:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T12:54:33","slug":"confidentiality-and-data-sharing-agreements","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/ngdc\/support-and-guidance\/confidentiality-and-data-sharing-agreements\/","title":{"rendered":"Confidentiality and data-sharing agreements"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t\t<section class=\"hero-section hero-section-with-social\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hero-info-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"hero-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1>Confidentiality and data-sharing agreements<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"social-wrap social-wrap-inline-them\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sea-background-f\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share this article<\/span><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/ngdc\/support-and-guidance\/confidentiality-and-data-sharing-agreements\/\"><span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span class=\"hidden\">Facebook<\/span><\/span><\/a><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Confidentiality%20and%20data-sharing%20agreements&#038;url=https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/ngdc\/support-and-guidance\/confidentiality-and-data-sharing-agreements\/\"><span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span class=\"hidden\">Twitter<\/span><\/span><\/a><a   onclick=\"javascript:void( (function() {var e=document.createElement('script' );e.setAttribute('type','text\/javascript' );e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8' );e.setAttribute('src','\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/js\/pinmarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e)})());\"  href=\"javascript:void(0);\"><span class=\"icon-pinterest\"><span class=\"hidden\">Pinterest<\/span><\/span><\/a><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"https:\/\/wa.me?text=https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/ngdc\/support-and-guidance\/confidentiality-and-data-sharing-agreements\/\"><span class=\"icon-whatsapp\"><span class=\"hidden\">WhatsApp<\/span><\/span><\/a><a   href=\"mailto:?subject=Confidentiality%20and%20data-sharing%20agreements&#038;body=%20(https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/ngdc\/support-and-guidance\/confidentiality-and-data-sharing-agreements\/)\"><span class=\"icon-mail\"><span class=\"hidden\">Email<\/span><\/span><\/a><a href=\"#\" data-copy=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/ngdc\/support-and-guidance\/confidentiality-and-data-sharing-agreements\/\" class=\"copy-url-on-click\"><span class=\"icon-link\"><span class=\"hidden\">Copy Link<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-bgs-blocks-content-container content-section\"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-12\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Open data&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>NGDC actively encourages the deposit of openly available data via the <a href=\"http:\/\/transfer.bgs.ac.uk\/ingestion\">NGDC Digital Data Deposit Application<\/a>. To encourage the deposit of borehole data, NGDC suggests some simple text that can be added to contracts with clients, drillers or consultants to request that data be deposited with open terms. <a href=\"#sharing\">Examples<\/a> and <a href=\"#wording\">suitable wording<\/a> can be found under the data sharing agreements section.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Data is available as deposited under the terms of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/doc\/open-government-licence\/version\/3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Open Government Licence<\/a>&nbsp;through the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/webapps.bgs.ac.uk\/services\/ngdc\/accessions\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NGDC deposited data search<\/a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/map-viewers\/geoindex-onshore\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GeoIndex<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Restricted data&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Whilst NGDC prefers to hold open data with no access or use constraints, you can deposit restricted data for a limited embargo period giving justification on the \u2018Data access\u2019 section on the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/transfer.bgs.ac.uk\/ingestion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NGDC Digital Data Deposit Application<\/a>. Following the embargo date, NGDC will aim to automatically release the data in accordance with Government open data policies. If you require a formal review as opposed to automatic release, please state and justify in the appropriate field. All requests for extended confidentiality will be assessed against the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/uksi\/2004\/3391\/contents\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Environmental Information Regulations<\/a> (EIR) exception criteria.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that deposited data can be requested under Freedom of Information (FOI) and EIR, meaning NGDC cannot respect all restriction requests due to overriding legislation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ground investigation contract clause&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/the-construction-playbook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Government&#8217;s construction playbook<\/a>&nbsp;mandates the insertion of a standalone clause in public works contracts where there will be the collection of subsurface data, to be shared with NGDC.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sharing\">Existing data sharing agreements&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>NGDC is collaborating with a number of organisations to create contracts and briefing notes for&nbsp;consultants carrying out ground investigation work to deposit AGS (Association of Geotechnical&nbsp;Specialists) data via the <a href=\"http:\/\/transfer.bgs.ac.uk\/ingestion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NGDC Digital Data Deposit Application<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These include:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/download\/environment-agency-agreement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Environment Agency agreement<\/a> (pdf 236 KB)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/download\/network-rail-agreement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Network Rail agreement (pdf 138 KB)<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/download\/welsh-government-agreement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Welsh Government agreement<\/a> (pdf 245 KB)&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"wording\">Data sharing contract suggested wording&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can use these examples of data sharing agreements to create new contracts. NGDC also suggests the following statements that can be added to contracts, to request that data is deposited with NGDC in AGS format.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Wording for clients&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\t\t\t<blockquote id=\"quote-2947-block_ce4ebe54714bc971cfe1f3c76d56030e\" class=\"quote  \" >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"quote-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/ngdc\/wp-content\/themes\/bgs\/img\/quote-caption.svg\" alt=\"Speech marks icon\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"quote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><!-- wp:paragraph -->Subsurface data (including borehole construction information and any downhole geotechnical and laboratory test data) will be reported as a raw data text file, using AGS file format, in addition to any other reporting format (e.g. a PDF report). The AGS file, and data within the file, must be compliant with existing reporting standards for subsurface and geotechnical data, as outlined by AGS (Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ags.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http:\/\/www.ags.org.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->It is required that these data are submitted by [name of contractor] to the UK digital data portal (<a href=\"http:\/\/transfer.bgs.ac.uk\/ingestion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http:\/\/transfer.bgs.ac.uk\/ingestion<\/a>) of the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) of the British Geological Survey (BGS), to become part of the UK repository of subsurface data for re-access and longevity.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->The data should be marked as open (not confidential). It is further understood that the ownership of the information will remain unchanged and recognised that the data may be used for secondary purposes to support research by NERC (BGS).<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Wording for drillers or contractors<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The NGDC also suggests that drillers and contractors include some wording in standard contracts to ensure data is deposited with the NGDC.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t<blockquote id=\"quote-9514-block_aefa9c0d65ba2cef9aab1c0e491a29d2\" class=\"quote  \" >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"quote-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/ngdc\/wp-content\/themes\/bgs\/img\/quote-caption.svg\" alt=\"Speech marks icon\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"quote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Please note that we donate AGS data to the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) at the British Geological Survey (BGS) to become part of the UK repository of subsurface data for re-access and longevity. If you do not want your data donated, or want the data to remain confidential (and only used for BGS science purposes) for an agreed period of time, please let us know.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":505,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"1","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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