IASC Operational Guidance on Data Responsibility in Humanitarian Action

Data responsibility in humanitarian action is the safe, ethical and effective management of personal and non-personal data for operational response, in accordance with established frameworks for personal data protection. It is a critical issue for the sector to address and the stakes are high. Ensuring we ‘do no harm’ while maximizing the benefits of data requires collective action that extends across all levels of the humanitarian system. Humanitarians must be careful when handling data to avoid placing already vulnerable individuals and communities at further risk.

The implementation of data responsibility in practice is often inconsistent within and across humanitarian response contexts. This is true despite established principles, norms and professional standards regarding respect for the rights of affected populations, the range of resources on data responsibility available in the wider international data community, as well as significant efforts by many humanitarian organizations to develop and update their policies and guidance in this area. While each organization is responsible for its own data management, humanitarians need common guidance to inform individual and collective action, and to uphold a high standard for data responsibility in all response contexts and in all phases of humanitarian action. 

This Operational Guidance on Data Responsibility in Humanitarian Action responds to this need. The first edition of this Guidance was endorsed in February 2021 as the result of an inclusive and consultative process led under the auspices of IASC Results Group 1. The present version of the Guidance was prepared through a collaborative process led by the Data Responsibility Working Group and involving stakeholders from across the humanitarian system. It was endorsed by the IASC in April 2023.