A new study of data professionals in the U.S. working for both Retail and Technology businesses as well as nonprofit organizations found that data professionals and their employers rely significantly on publicly available web data to efficiently and effectively carry out their missions.

The study was commissioned by Bright Data, the industry-leading public web data platform, and was conducted by the leading research firm Vanson Bourne.

“We believe that public data must remain in the hands of the people and not just the powerful. These findings strengthen our resolve to continue the fight for access to public data to serve the public good.”

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• 100 percent said their organization uses publicly available web data in their operations to some extent, with 94 percent saying that it is used in their day-to-day operations.
• 61 percent said they use publicly available web data to compare pricing and inventory of competitors, and 17 percent report using it for market research.

The survey also identified concerns among two thirds (68%) of data professionals that the privatization of public web data would have a negative impact on both business and nonprofit operations.

• 40 percent said they use publicly available web data to identify harmful content.
• 79 percent agree that, without access to publicly available web data, their organization would not be able to operate effectively.
• 73 percent agree that they could not accomplish their most important goals without publicly available web data.

“Freedom of information is the foundation of free societies and free markets. This survey highlights the power of public data to fuel competition, ensure transparency and help solve the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Or Lenchner, the CEO of Bright Data. “We believe that public data must remain in the hands of the people and not just the powerful. These findings strengthen our resolve to continue the fight for access to public data to serve the public good.”

About the sample:

• Survey of 150 IT (70%), technology (17%) and data and analytics (13%) professionals from the U.S.
• Respondents come from the charity/not for profit (35%), retail (33%) and technology (31%) sectors.
• Respondent seniority: C-level (89%), senior management (3%) and mid-level management (7%)

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