Comet is drafting a rule for the Commons in her sketch notebook: "Nobody may ever reuse our survey questions."
"That protects our work," she says proudly.
Wren reads it twice. "What do you notice about who this rule stops?"
Comet taps her pencil. "The Hilltop Makers could not run their own survey with our questions. Even if they credited us."
"A rule can protect people," Wren says. "It can also slow good ideas down. What does the evidence say this rule would do?"
Nova hovers over the draft. "Would you like a hint?" she asks. "Look for who a rule protects and who it holds back. One rule can do both."
Comet sighs, then laughs. "Data analyst, help me rewrite it."
Laws about intellectual property and data can help or harm.
They can speed up or slow down advances in computing. They can protect people's rights or infringe on them.
To infringe on a right means to take away from it or break it.
A federal law, Title 13 of the United States Code, keeps Census survey answers confidential.
The Census Bureau never reveals who answered.
The Commons Count promise to keep names out is not that law. It is the crew's own practice, a choice they made to respect members.
| Draft rule for Commons Count (made-up) | Who it protects | Who it might hold back |
|---|---|---|
| Nobody may ever reuse our survey questions | The crew's work | Other groups who could learn from the survey |
| Share the blank survey under a Creative Commons license, with credit | The crew's credit | Almost no one |
| Post totals only, never rows | The members in the data | People who want every detail |
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Laws about property and data can protect people's rights. | ? |
| Laws about property and data can also slow down advances. | ? |
| A law about data can only help, never harm. | ? |
| The Census Bureau reveals who answered its survey. | ? |
Thoughtful work, data analyst. Tomorrow is the last Impact Friday: the Commons Count impact review.