Legal & reuse
How to use GIDS surveillance data, cite its sources, and ask about access for your project.
01 · Quick guide
Start with your intended use, then check the material and its original source for specific terms.
| You want to… | Position | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Link to or cite a GIDS page | Permitted | Cite the page title, GIDS, URL, and access date, plus the original source where relevant. |
| Use GIDS for research, teaching, or personal study | Generally permitted | Attribute GIDS, preserve the original source information, and follow any source-specific terms. |
| Download or analyse surveillance data | Check the source licence | Review the source authority, licence information, and documentation supplied with the dataset. |
| Republish or redraw a GIDS chart | Check before reuse | Credit GIDS and the underlying source, and identify any filtering, aggregation, translation, or redrawing. |
| Use material in journalism or public-interest communication | Generally permitted | Distinguish GIDS processing from the original official publication and do not imply endorsement. |
| Commercial product, service, or government contracting | Tell us about the end users, intended use, and delivery needs; source-specific terms still apply. | |
| Use the GIDS name, logo, or visual identity | Ordinary factual attribution is welcome. Do not imply partnership, certification, sponsorship, or endorsement. | |
| Bulk access, automation, or model training | Contact us first | Describe the scope and access method; commercial extraction and model training require prior written authorization. |
More specific terms shown on an individual page, dataset, download, repository, or source website take priority over this general guide.
02 · Material types
Different parts of GIDS may be governed by different rights or licences. These distinctions are the starting point.
GIDS explanations, generated summaries and reports, charts, documentation, and website design.
Linking and citation are permitted. Contact us before substantial reproduction or redistribution in another product; commercial use requires prior written authorization. Rights are reserved unless a page or component states otherwise.
Records collected from public health authorities and official data portals, reports, dashboards, and APIs; GIDS normalizes them for display and download.
GIDS does not claim ownership of underlying surveillance facts merely because they are collected, standardized, analysed, or displayed here. The original publisher’s licence, attribution, and reuse conditions continue to apply.
Website code, data-processing tools, packages, and third-party dependencies.
Use the licence attached to the relevant repository, package, directory, or file. Public visibility does not automatically permit copying, modification, redistribution, or commercial reuse. Dependencies retain their own licences.
The GIDS name, logo, visual identity, and other project identifiers.
The GIDS name may be used for ordinary factual attribution. Written permission is required for uses suggesting partnership, certification, sponsorship, official status, or endorsement. Attribution is not brand authorisation.
03 · Attribution
Good attribution preserves the provenance chain: what you used, how GIDS presented or processed it, and where it originated.
Give the full title of the page, figure, report, or dataset.
Credit the relevant public health authority or original publisher where identified.
Include the page URL and access date, plus any release, version, or snapshot date.
State clearly if you filtered, aggregated, translated, transformed, recalculated, or redrew the material.
Global Infectious Disease Surveillance (GIDS), “[page or dataset title].” Primary source: [authority and source]. Accessed [YYYY-MM-DD]. [GIDS page URL].
@misc{gids_[short_title]_[year],
author = {{Global Infectious Disease Surveillance}},
title = {[Page or dataset title]},
howpublished = {GIDS},
url = {[GIDS page URL]},
note = {Primary source: [authority and source]. Accessed [YYYY-MM-DD]}
} TY - DATA TI - [Page or dataset title] AU - Global Infectious Disease Surveillance (GIDS) UR - [GIDS page URL] Y2 - [YYYY/MM/DD] N1 - Primary source: [authority and source] ER -
If you modified the material: Add “Data filtered, transformed, or redrawn by the user. The resulting presentation does not imply endorsement by GIDS or the original source authority.”
04 · Source licences
GIDS integrates materials published by multiple public health authorities. There is no single licence that automatically applies to every surveillance record. Some sources carry an explicit open licence; others permit access without a general reuse licence or impose their own conditions.
An open licence attached to one source does not extend to another source, to the GIDS brand, or to material that has not been expressly licensed.
Explore data downloads and source notesWhen no explicit licence can be identified, do not interpret public availability alone as an unrestricted licence to redistribute the material.
05 · Automated & commercial use
Copyright, data licensing, and technical access are separate issues. Automated access may be subject to rate limits, robots directives, API rules, security controls, and the Service Terms. Following those technical rules does not grant reuse rights.
For commercial products or services, including work under a government contract, obtain written authorization from GIDS before using its public service or project-created content. Authorization from GIDS does not replace permission required from an original data provider.
The downloads page provides surveillance data in CSV, JSON and XLSX, organized by country or disease and time period. Coverage, reporting schedules and definitions differ by source; data may be delayed or revised. Downloads do not promise real-time updates, a public API or a service-level agreement.
For bulk access, recurring delivery, commercial use, model training, or a use not covered here, email us with your organization, end users, intended use, data and time period, delivery format and frequency, and any redistribution plans. We will review feasibility and source conditions; this page does not itself grant authorization.
Email GIDS about access →06 · Rights concerns
If material appears incorrectly attributed, licensed, or made available, please report it.
Provide the relevant page, figure, dataset, or download.
Include the original source or publisher link where possible.
Explain the relevant ownership, licence, attribution, or reuse concern.
For example: attribution correction, licence update, link replacement, download restriction, or removal.
Use the public issue tracker for source, attribution, or licensing reports that contain no confidential information. Do not post identity documents, private contact information, unpublished authorisation records, or other sensitive material.
Report a rights issue