Publishing and sharing OS data

As well as the general points above, if you print digitally such as downloadable PDFs, you must not customise our data. And you’ll have to make sure your document cannot be edited or manipulated in any way. This includes stopping any way for users to interrogate information, such as extracting feature attribution. And you can’t use it within any geographical information system (GIS), comparable database or software system.

You’ll also have to remove any geo-referencing, such as OS National Grid or latitude and longitude co-ordinates.

You can publish derived data, or OS OpenData under Open Government Licence (OGL). For OS data or derived data not available under OGL, you must use either

• an End User Licence
• or an INSPIRE End User Licence where you’re acting under the INSPIRE Regulations 2009.

You’ll need to monitor what an end user does with the OS data to make sure it’s being used for the relevant purpose.

If you want to publish OS data using geo-referencing or that can be used in geographical information systems (GIS), you must keep our data secure and use an End User Licence. This could include having usernames and passwords for any users. Or giving permission to certain IP addresses or restricting access using accepted standards of access control.

You can find more information on our guidance document (PDF).

You can sell ad space in hard copy and online publications on the pages with OS data so long as it’s cost recovery and not profit making. On pages where there’s no OS data, we don’t make any restrictions.

Where you use OS data, the ads must be:

• Related to/associated with the purpose of the publication at the time.
• Secondary content.

All fire, ambulance, police and coastguard services and the RNLI are already PSGA members, so have the same data sharing rights as others.

For land and maritime-based services that aren’t members, such as local cave rescue groups, you can use a contractor licence.

PSGA members may face emergency situations, especially unforeseen acts, where they need the help of other organisations to respond quickly. You can give relevant coverage of OS licensed data to those supporting you.

If they’re not already licensed for their business use for the data:

• You must tell them they can use the data only during the event you’re leading on and must destroy it or return it to you after the event.
• You must let us know about the data share – and if they don’t confirm destroying or returning the data, we’ll help find an appropriate solution.

We also have a Mapping for Emergencies response service for emergency situations.

You can share data with infrastructure and utility companies. You’ll need to establish in writing they’re licensed for the product(s) and the geographic area before you share the data.

If you want to share data where the organisation’s geographic area is different to the one you want to share, you’ll need to use the End User Licence.

Local Education Authority (LEA) schools are covered by the PSGA Member Licence because they’re seen as a department of their local authority.

You’ll need to use an End User Licence, or an INSPIRE End User Licence where you’re working under INSPIRE Regulations 2009, for independent, free, academy and private schools. This is because they’re not considered a department of the local authority.

Remember: schools, colleges and universities can use Digimap. This is a great teaching and research tool available on subscription and free at the point of use. Universities that subscribe to Digimap have reciprocal sharing rights to share information derived from OS data.

You can also share data with higher education authorities when they’re a contractor doing paid-for research for you. Use the End User Licence where research you’ve commissioned is not paid for.

You need to keep records of the data you share and who you share it with if using the End User Licence.

Public libraries are covered by the PSGA Member Licence because they’re seen as a department of their local authority.

Use our guidance around the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1998 for sharing ideas, for example, if a library user wants to photocopy a map.

Other libraries, for example in universities or private collections, will depend on who governs them and what OS licence they have. If they don’t have an OS licence, use an End User Licence, or an INSPIRE End User Licence where you’re working under INSPIRE Regulations 2009, to share data with them that supports your core business.

Councillors, engaged in council activities, are covered by the PSGA Member Licence because they’re seen as part of that local council.

You can supply data to a Member of Parliament (MP) a Member of the Senedd (MS) or a Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) using an End User Licence, or an INSPIRE End User Licence where you’re working under INSPIRE Regulations 2009, as you can to any other person.

MPs can access OS mapping through the House of Commons library and MSP from Scottish Government's library.

If MPs or councillors want to use the data in election campaign activity, they must get their own mapping data through our OS election maps service, OS OpenData products or the OS map shop.

If you already publish the information publicly, you can point a community group or organisation to this. For other data, you can use an End User Licence, or an INSPIRE End User Licence where you’re working under INSPIRE Regulations 2009, to share data with them where it supports your core business delivery. This includes Freedom of Information requests and other statutory requests, such as Environmental Information Regulations. You might find this Information Access legislation document useful for FOI requests.

If you’re working with a community group or organisation in a non-commercial way, you’ll need to use an End User Licence.

If you already publish the information publicly, you can point to this. You can share data when it directly supports the delivery of your core business. You can share data with other members signed-up to the PSGA, for example, a local parish council.

If the group is a contractor, you can share the data using a Contractor Licence. Unless you’re contracting with a community group or organisation, in which case use an End User Licence.

A town, parish or community council is the qualifying body for leading on neighbourhood plans. Neighbourhood plans help put in place planning policies for the future development and growth (including associated social, economic and environmental issues) of the local area.

You can check if your town or parish council is a PSGA member.

Where there is no parish or town council, you can form a neighbourhood forum. This must be approved by the local authority. A neighbourhood forum can’t join the PSGA but another member can share mapping data with the forum. How a member supplies the data depends on how the activity directly supports the member’s core business.

Once a neighbourhood area is designated by the local planning authority, that authority is legally required to give advice and help to the bodies producing a neighbourhood plan.

If you already publish the information, you can simply point to it. For other data, you can use an End User Licence, or an INSPIRE End User Licence where you’re working under INSPIRE Regulations 2009, to share data with them where it supports your core business delivery. This includes Freedom of Information requests and other statutory requests, such as Environmental Information Regulations. You might find this Information Access Legislation document useful for FOI requests.

• You can share derived data with an OS Partner where they’re already licensed under a Framework Contract (Partners) with us for the same data and geographic area.
• You can’t make profit from sharing such data. You can charge a one-off, upfront admin charge but not for licensing or other fees for your IPR in the derived data.
• You can’t add any limitations around the intellectual property rights (IPR) you have in your derived data.
• Check your Member Licence for more detail.

You can share with an organisation that has a licence from OS or an OS Partner covering business use. You’ll need to use the End User Licence in this case and establish in writing that they’re licensed for the product(s) and the geographic area before you share OS data.