Any discussion on open data is almost always followed by debates on privacy concerns.
Many individual and organizations — whether in international development or other sectors — remain wary about publishing information online. And their fears aren’t unfounded.
Some donor governments that publish activity-level data online have received flak for spending too much in a sector that, in the eyes of its taxpayers, doesn’t provide value for money. Many nongovernmental organizations, meanwhile, have been subjected to public scrutiny after disclosing how much they pay their CEOs. Given the negative attention, it is not surprising for many of these actors to become more controlling of the information they release to the public.