These Good Practice Principles were developed by the Working Party of Senior Digital Government Officials Thematic Group on the Data-Driven Public Sector.
This group had been instrumental in ensuring the value of the experiences highlighted and questions answered through The Path to Becoming a Data-Driven Public Sector and the Data-Driven Public Sector Working Paper.
Lucia and I initiated this work under the leadership of Jaron Haas, Simone Schoof and Marieke Schenk from the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (MINBZK) in the Netherlands. We then workshopped elements of it in Paris during the Expert Group Meeting on Open Government Data prior to the pandemic.
The ultimate value of this exercise owes itself to Arturo’s leadership after he took on the responsibility of stewarding the Data-Driven Public Sector thematic group during this challenging period. He is indebted to the support of those countries but especially Natalia Domagala on behalf of the UK and Omar Bitar on behalf of Canada for getting to their final state.
Available as a PDF
What’s the TL;DR?
As governments deepen their use of data and AI, ethical guidance becomes critical. These 10 principles from the OECD are designed to help public officials protect the public interest at every stage of the data lifecycle. They go beyond compliance—emphasising public integrity, trust, and responsible innovation.
The principles stress:
- Putting people and the public interest at the centre
- Being transparent, inclusive and accountable
- Managing risks proactively, especially in automated decision-making
Here are the OECD’s 10 Good Practice Principles for Data Ethics in the Public Sector:
- Manage data with integrity
- Be aware of and observe relevant government-wide arrangements for trustworthy data access, sharing and use
- Incorporate data ethical considerations into governmental, organisational and public sector decision-making processes
- Monitor and retain control over data inputs, in particular those used to inform the development and training of AI systems, and adopt a risk-based approach to the automation of decisions
- Be specific about the purpose of data use, especially in the case of personal data
- Define boundaries for data access, sharing and use
- Be clear, inclusive and open
- Publish open data and source code
- Broaden individuals’ and collectives’ control over their data
- Be accountable and proactive in managing risks
Public trust in government is shaped not just by what services are delivered, but how they are delivered, and that increasingly means how data is handled. As digital technologies and AI become part of the machinery of public decision-making, it’s not enough to comply with the law. Citizens expect more: transparency, fairness, inclusion, and accountability.
These principles recognise that data is never neutral. The choices made by public officials – what data to collect, how to use it, when to automate – have real consequences for people’s lives. The OECD’s guidance offers a practical compass: helping governments navigate complexity without losing sight of the human stakes involved.
The blurb
The Good Practice Principles for Data Ethics in the Public Sector presented in this paper seek to shed light on the value and practical implications of data ethics in the public sector. They aim to support public officials in the implementation of data ethics in digital government projects, products, and services such that:
- i) trust is placed at the core of their design and delivery and
- ii) public integrity is upheld through specific actions taken by governments, public organisations and, at a more granular level, public officials.
Available as a PDF
