Who Owns the Data? - Verified

Data: Now you see it. Now you don’t. 

Lack of data ownership can come at a significant cost to businesses. Have you considered the operational and strategic implications of not owning it? 

When it comes to building compliance data, the building owner is required under regulation to keep maintenance data for safety measures installed in their buildings. Many businesses and facility managers do not realise they inadvertently do not own their records, they do not know where it is held, and if there is a problem commercially, they will not be able to retrieve it. 

In Australia “data ownership” refers to an organisation’s collection, management, and disclosure of personal data. However, this definition does not include business data that is generated during standard business operations. 

Facilities Managers need to think carefully about:  

• How is critical business and site data is captured or acquired? 
• What commercial model is in place to secure it? 
• What procurement policies and contract clauses are in place to ensure you always own the business data and that third parties cannot use it. 
• Do they have a trustworthy strategic partner in collating and maintaining it? 

The Significant Cost & Risk Of Non-Ownership 
 

Lack of data ownership is best captured via a recent market example. An ASX-listed Australian company engaged a contractor to generate evacuation drawings for 1,000 cross-jurisdictional sites. In addition to the large scope, the contractor navigated the complex legislative and policy compliance requirements which differed from state-to-state. 

For WHS compliance, these evacuation documents require validation every twelve months to ensure accuracy and currency. When the company sought digital drawings from the contractor, their request was declined as they were notified they did not have the rights to the drawings they paid to get created.  

The company had limited options, use the contractor for any required changes and for further significant financial outlay, or engage another company to start from scratch. For this company they knew they were paying a premium for the changes however their only other option was time-consuming and difficult to justify financially. 

This is a familiar scenario for many companies who have had the same experience with other types of business documents including hazardous material registers, asbestos registers, block plans, fire engineering reports and installation schematics.