Code of Conduct
Last updated: 2026-06-07
This Code of Conduct sets out what ODON – Offene Daten für Offene Nutzung (“ODON”, “we”) stands for, how we decide what work to take on, the standards we hold our own work to, and how we treat the people we work with. It applies to everything we do — our own services, data stories, APIs, and education work, as well as the projects and partnerships we accept from outside.
One principle runs through all of it: we gate on use and honesty, not on who you are. Open data is more useful in more hands, so we don’t judge work by the identity or industry of the people or organisations behind it. We look at how data is used, who might be harmed, and whether the work is honest about what it shows.
This is a Board-approved working version. We intend to put it to the General Assembly for formal adoption.
If anything here is unclear, write to us at info@odon.at.
1. What we’re here to do
ODON exists to promote the use, provision, and publication of open data. We help people and organisations find, open, and make sense of data, and we share what we make under open licences. We welcome data being opened by anyone — the value is in the data becoming usable, not in who released it.
A project or piece of work is a good fit when it makes data more open or more understandable and produces something others can build on.
2. Where we draw the line
We assess work by its use and its effects, not by the industry or identity of who is involved. On that basis, there are kinds of work we will not do and will not help others do, regardless of who is asking:
- Using personal data in ways that risk identifying individuals against their consent, or that undermine privacy and data-protection rights.
- Surveillance, profiling, or tracking of individuals or groups — including facial recognition and individual scoring.
- Weapons, defence, or military applications, including thin “dual-use” framings.
- Targeting or disadvantaging people on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or political belief.
- Disinformation, manipulation of public discourse, or partisan campaigning for parties or candidates. (Commenting on open-data policy is part of our mission and is not partisan campaigning.)
- Building closed products on open data while giving nothing back to the openness the data depends on.
- Anything illegal.
This list is about what is done with data, not who provides it. A dataset being open is welcome whatever its source; the lines above are about the use, not the publisher.
3. Standards we hold our own work to
When ODON publishes a data story, dashboard, or analysis, we are the author — so the responsibility for it is ours, not the reader’s. We commit to:
- Accuracy and methodological transparency — we explain how we reached a finding and make our methods open to scrutiny.
- Source attribution — every data source is credited, with its ODMM rating so readers can judge the openness of the underlying data for themselves.
- Honest acknowledgement of limitations — we say what the data can and cannot show, and we don’t dress up correlation as cause or outputs (views, downloads) as outcomes (decisions changed).
- No greenwashing or impact-washing — we don’t overstate environmental benefit, and we don’t exaggerate, fabricate, or decorate social impact. Confident visuals on thin findings, cherry-picked metrics, and impact language used for effect are out.
- Disclosure of AI-assisted content — where AI or generative tools materially shaped an analysis or visual, we say so.
4. How we treat each other
ODON should be a respectful, harassment-free environment for everyone we work with — members, staff, interns, applicants, contributors, and partners. We don’t tolerate harassment, discrimination, intimidation, or demeaning behaviour, in person or online. We take our lead from the Contributor Covenant.
For disputes arising specifically from the membership relationship, the association’s internal arbitration board (Schiedsgericht) under our statutes remains the formal route; this Code sits alongside it, not in place of it.
5. Conflicts of interest
If you are involved in an ODON decision — about a project, a partner, a publication, or a person — and you have a personal, financial, or organisational interest in the outcome, disclose it and step back from the decision. This applies to Board members, staff, and contributors alike, and complements the consent requirement our statutes already place on transactions involving Board members.
6. Funding and partnerships
We accept funding and partnerships consistent with this Code, judged on use and honesty rather than the identity of the funder. Two commitments hold regardless of who is paying:
- Findings are not for sale. A client can commission work, but cannot buy a conclusion. ODON keeps editorial control over what our analysis says, and the standards in §3 apply to commissioned work exactly as they apply to our own.
- We can say no. We may decline any funding, partnership, or project that conflicts with this Code or our mission, and we don’t owe a reason.
7. Raising a concern
If you think something we’ve done — or something we’ve been asked to do — conflicts with this Code, tell us at info@odon.at. The Board will look into concerns raised in good faith and respond. Raising a concern honestly will never count against you.
Version 0.1 — working draft, Board-approved, pending General Assembly adoption.