Mission

Responsible Practices for Public Web Data Collection

The mission of the Alliance for Responsible Data Collection (ARDC) is to preserve access to public internet data by providing a trusted framework for responsible data collection. Access to public web data is the cornerstone of scientific research, commercial enterprise, political freedom, and governmental accountability.

As laws and regulations governing web data scraping evolve, organizations seek guidance to maintain compliance while protecting the integrity of digital ecosystems. ARDC provides a trusted and adaptable framework that responds to these concerns through technical standards and governance guidelines emphasizing transparency, accountability, and fairness.

Core Principles

ARDC ensures organizations commit to essential practices including limiting collection to publicly available data, adopting acceptable use policies, monitoring domain health, documenting collection processes, retaining query logs for data provenance, and implementing mechanisms to address misuse.

Our Impact

ARDC advocates for democratizing public web data, supporting businesses of all sizes, advancing research and education, and ensuring accountability. By adhering to ARDC’s guidelines, data collectors can confidently leverage web data while following best practices, and data users can trust that ARDC-sourced data has been responsibly collected.