Sharing Value’s intent

This Data Protection and Use Policy (DPUP) Guideline recommends explicit collaborative actions between people and communities who share an interest in development or use of insights to:

• identify what the most useful information would be to support the development of the desired insights, including qualitative and interpretative information to help give context to quantitative information
• identify people and agencies with relevant interests and experiences to contribute to the work and use the relevant insights
• share the insights with those identified.

This Guideline’s recommended actions are:

• about sharing insights as well as developing them
• common to many codes of practice as opposed to legal requirements.

Sharing Value’s key concepts

Agencies can benefit from greater sharing of non-identifying insights derived from information collected from and about people. Such sharing can help improve services to these people and help their own agencies. This is best achieved by taking a collaborative approach.

Throughout the process of developing insights, it’s important to involve those who have rich knowledge of the circumstances of the people information is collected from, even if this information will only be used in a non-personal form. This is the Value Loop.

This helps to ensure a good understanding of:

• the value of the insights that may be derived from this information
• the purposes of collection or use (see Purpose Matters Guideline)
• the specific type of information that would best suit those purposes
• how to gather that type of information in the most efficient and respectful way
• how to communicate the purposes and value to those the information is collected from
• any risks and downsides that may outweigh the potential value of collecting and using this information to develop insights.

Sharing Value: The Value Loop

Purpose Matters Guideline

Collaborating delivers value

A collaborative approach involves exploring:

• what the objectives of collecting and analysing information are, before those activities are carried out
• what insights will be most helpful to people and agencies working on related outcomes.

This approach aims to deliver value to all participants.

Important reasons for this Guideline

Service providers are often required to share information they collect with other agencies for accountability, research and analysis, and planning purposes.

Many people, such as decision-makers, government, non-governmental organisations, communities and service users, are likely to benefit from sharing insights derived from information collected from or about people. Such insights are valuable for supporting robust decision-making and better service delivery, which support positive outcomes.

Service providers and users want to be involved at the start of the information collection process and throughout the process of developing insights based on that information. This is so they can contribute their perspectives, expertise and suggestions, and have opportunities to understand, access and apply those insights.

Understanding this Guideline’s terminology

• Insights — non-personal information, including data and data sets, analysis, qualitative or quantitative information, statistics, research, reports or studies, that may support improved decision making.
• Non-personal information — information that does not identify individual people.
• Sensitive information — information that could be misunderstood or misused, resulting in harm or embarrassment to a group or community.

DPUP terminology