Four Questions to Guide Decision-Making for Data Sharing and Integration

This article introduces a Four Question Framework to bridge key concepts in data governance and legal structures—Is this legal? Is this ethical? Is this a good idea? How do we know (and who decides)? These questions should be carefully considered within established governance processes and alongside core partners—specifically data owners, data stewards, and those represented within the data—to determine whether and how to move forward at each stage of data integration. The Four Questions provide an overarching framework to guide decisions around data sharing and integration; however, these questions can also be applied within existing decision-making frameworks, such as the FiveSafes.