Legal & reuse
Citation and reuse guidance for GIDS content, surveillance data, code, and brand materials.
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. |
| Use GIDS-created material in a commercial product or service | Contact GIDS unless a source or component licence independently permits the intended use. | |
| Use the GIDS name, logo, or visual identity | Ordinary factual attribution is welcome. Do not imply partnership, certification, sponsorship, or endorsement. | |
| Bulk access, automated commercial extraction, or model training | Separate conditions apply | Review the Service Terms, technical access rules, and licences of the underlying materials. |
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.
Original writing, documentation, summaries, visual expression, page design, and other project-created material.
Linking and citation are permitted. Reproducing substantial material, redistributing it as part of another product, or using it commercially may require prior permission. Rights are reserved unless a page or component states otherwise.
Surveillance records and metadata from health authorities, official open-data systems, reports, dashboards, or APIs.
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.
Read the official licence deedWhen 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 source data, the original publisher’s licence remains controlling. Commercial reuse of GIDS-created content, branded outputs, or services may require written permission. Contact the project about large-scale research access or uses not clearly covered here.
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