Participant Preferences for Anonymized Data Sharing & Licensing

Welcome to this survey on anonymized data sharing and licensing. The purpose of this survey is to understand your preferences and concerns regarding sharing anonymized research data. Your responses will help inform data management and sharing practices. • Participation is entirely voluntary. You may stop at any time without penalty. • There are no right or wrong answers — we are interested in your honest opinions. • Your responses are confidential and will be reported only in aggregate. • Estimated completion time: 6–8 minutes. By proceeding, you confirm that you have read and understood this information and consent to participate.

How familiar are you with Creative Commons or other data-sharing licenses?

• Very familiar
• Somewhat familiar
• Heard of them but not sure what they mean
• Not familiar at all

How comfortable are you with sharing anonymized data from this study with other researchers?

If this anonymized dataset were shared, which license type would you most prefer?

• CC BY (attribution required)
• CC BY-NC (non-commercial use only)
• CC0 (no restrictions / public domain)
• Other (please specify)
• Not sure / no preference

Please rank the following repository types in order of your preference for depositing this anonymized dataset (1 = most preferred).

1. Institutional repository (university/organization)
2. Domain/discipline-specific repository
3. Generalist repository (e.g., Zenodo, Figshare)
4. Controlled-access repository (application and review required)
5. Private storage (no public sharing)

Which safeguards do you believe should be in place before anonymized data are shared? Select all that apply.

• Data use agreement (DUA) or terms of use
• Access committee review/approval
• Only aggregate or highly de-identified data released
• Embargo period before release
• User authentication (e.g., two-factor authentication)
• Citation and attribution requirements
• Access logs and audit trails
• None of the above

Based on your responses in this survey, please share any additional conditions, concerns, or thoughts that would affect your comfort with anonymized data sharing and licensing.

What is your age group?

• 18–24
• 25–34
• 35–44
• 45–54
• 55–64
• 65+
• Prefer not to say

Thank you for completing this survey. Your responses have been recorded and will be used in aggregate to inform data-sharing policies. If you have any questions, please contact the research team.

Have you previously contributed data to a research study that was later shared or deposited in a public repository?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure

How concerned are you about the possibility that anonymized data could be linked back to you (re-identification)?

When choosing a data license, how important is it to you that others must give proper attribution when using the data?

After your data have been deposited in a repository, which best describes your preference for data withdrawal?

• I should be able to request withdrawal at any time
• Withdrawal should be allowed until public release, then no longer possible
• Withdrawal should not be possible after anonymization
• Not sure / it depends on the circumstances

We'd like to explore your views on anonymized data sharing in a bit more depth. An AI moderator will ask you a couple of follow-up questions based on your earlier responses.

How do you describe your gender?

• Woman
• Man
• Non-binary
• Prefer to self-describe
• Prefer not to say

Which types of data would you be comfortable sharing in anonymized form? Select all that apply.

• Survey responses
• Interview transcripts (de-identified)
• Audio or video recordings (voice/face removed or altered)
• Physiological or sensor data
• Location or time-stamped activity data
• Code or analysis scripts
• None of the above

How important is it to you that the data cannot be used for commercial purposes?

What is the highest level of education you have completed?

• Less than high school
• High school or equivalent
• Some college / Associate degree
• Bachelor's degree
• Master's degree
• Doctorate (PhD/EdD)
• Professional degree (MD/JD)
• Prefer not to say

How important is it to you that reuse of the data is as easy and unrestricted as possible for other researchers?

What is your current employment status?

• Employed full-time
• Employed part-time
• Self-employed
• Student
• Not employed
• Retired
• Prefer not to say

In which region do you currently reside?

• Africa
• Asia
• Europe
• North America
• Oceania
• South America
• Prefer not to say