Before sharing company records for a licensing evaluation, resolve six areas: authority, scope and access, permitted uses and onward transfer, handling and security, payment and obligations, and termination. Record the evidence and responsible reviewer for each answer. An inquiry or introduction does not authorize data access.
Review a defined proposal.
Establish authority, scope, recipients, permitted uses, and continuing obligations before granting access or rights. Involve the people responsible for legal, privacy, security, finance, and the affected systems.
These are diligence questions, not a legal opinion or compliance certification. Origin’s screening and a buyer’s interest do not resolve them.
- No specific recipient or written use: keep the conversation at company level.
- Unclear fields, attachments, linked systems, or dates: hold the sample or connection until the boundary is defined.
- Unresolved rights, confidentiality, or sensitive-content questions: assign the responsible reviewers before granting access.
- Payment or continuing work is undefined: record the uncertainty before making a commercial commitment.
Who does what before records move?
This is a proposed review framework, not legal advice or a promised buyer process. A description, an introduction, an evaluation sample and a license are separate decisions.
| Party | Role | What the role does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Your company | Identifies records and responsible reviewers; authorizes a named introduction and reviews any proposed access or license | A form submission does not authorize records to be sent |
| Origin Data Partners | Independent initial inquiry review and coordination of relevant licensing discussions | Origin is not the data buyer, legal adviser or a guarantee of acceptance |
| Prospective licensee | Explains requested scope and use, evaluates relevance and proposes its terms | Interest does not establish your rights or a payable agreement |
What needs answering at each decision?
Keep one written record of the proposal, open questions, and the person responsible for each answer. The table is Origin’s suggested review sequence, not a receiving program’s promised process.
| Decision | Resolve before proceeding |
|---|---|
| Company conversation | Which record categories exist, who can describe them, and what is already known to be restricted? |
| Introduction | Which named recipient will receive which company information, and has the owner authorized that introduction? |
| Sample or connection | What exact scope, evaluation use, access duration, handling terms, and internal approvals apply? |
| License | What uses and recipients are allowed, what obligations apply, and what triggers acceptance and payment? |
Keep an evidence and decision log.
Use the blank proposal review worksheet to assign each open question, record the supporting document and identify who must decide. Keep completed notes within your company.
| Question | Evidence to request or check | Suggested internal owner |
|---|---|---|
| Scope and exclusions | Named systems, fields, dates, attachments and exclusions | System owner |
| Authority and restrictions | Relevant authorship, contracts and internal approvals | Authorized business and legal reviewers |
| Sensitive information | Proposed exclusions and handling controls | Privacy and security reviewers |
| Access and use | Named recipients, permitted purposes and onward sharing | Business, legal and security reviewers |
| Duration and ending access | Evaluation period, license term and end-of-term duties | Business and legal reviewers |
| Economics | Acceptance conditions, costs, payment triggers and timing | Finance and authorized signatory |
2. Scope and access.
Use boundaries your operational team can implement. Apply them consistently to evaluation, permissions, and the agreement.
- Which systems, teams, fields, attachments, and dates are included?
- What must be excluded before transfer?
- Is this one delivery, recurring updates, or continued access?
- How is out-of-scope access prevented and checked?
- What terms cover samples and later scope changes?
3. Uses and onward transfer.
Ask the recipient to connect each requested permission to its intended use.
- Who receives material, including affiliates and sublicensees?
- Is use limited to evaluation, training, benchmarking, or another defined purpose?
- What rights cover originals, transformed data, derivatives, models, and outputs?
- Can your company keep using and licensing the material?
- What exclusivity applies, and can permitted uses change without approval?
4. Handling and security.
Request documentation and commitments for this engagement. Public security or anonymization claims are not guarantees or rights clearance.
- Who can access raw records, including staff and subprocessors?
- Where does processing occur, and which transfer questions need review?
- What is removed or transformed, and who validates it?
- Can you review a prepared sample before downstream use?
- What access controls, incident notices, retention, deletion, and backup terms apply?
5. Payment and obligations.
Distinguish an estimate from an agreed price and the conditions for earning payment.
- What triggers payment, and who decides acceptance?
- What costs, taxes, deductions, holdbacks, or repayment terms apply?
- What happens if only part of the delivery is accepted?
- Are corrections, interviews, updates, or continuing support required?
- Is an intermediary compensated, and is that incentive disclosed?
6. Ending the arrangement.
Stopping access is different from deleting delivered material or ending downstream use. Ask what termination actually changes.
- Who can terminate, with what notice?
- Which rights and obligations survive?
- What happens to copies, backups, recipients, and derivatives?
- How is deletion confirmed, and what exceptions remain?
- What happens to unpaid amounts and disputed work?
A worked example: a limited archive request
Suppose an illustrative software company is asked for three years of internal support runbooks. Its inventory also shows links to customer tickets. The request does not yet explain whether those linked tickets or attachments are included.
The operations lead records the ambiguity instead of exporting the entire workspace. The proposed category stays limited to runbooks while the relevant reviewers consider permissions and the recipient clarifies its request. This is an example of managing an open question, not a clearance decision.
| Open question | Suggested reviewer | Evidence to request |
|---|---|---|
| Are linked tickets included? | Support operations lead | Written inclusion and exclusion list |
| May the company grant the requested use? | Responsible legal or contract reviewer | Relevant agreements and proposed license scope |
| Who receives the sample? | Security and business owner | Named recipient, evaluation purpose, and access terms |
| When is payment earned? | Finance and business owner | Acceptance criteria, amount, and payment conditions |
Make an internal review plan.
Download the licensing review decision log. Assign a reviewer and record the evidence needed for each open question. Leave an approval date blank until the decision is actually made. Keep the completed log inside your company.
If you do not yet have a proposal, start with the company data inventory and the licensing overview. To compare an actual offer, use the offer worksheet.
An illustrative proceed-or-hold decision.
An illustrative software company can describe its internal runbook categories and ask whether that type of history is relevant. That is enough for an initial discussion, not enough to release the runbooks. It first needs to confirm authorship, customer references and the proposed use.
If the same workspace includes client-owned implementation files or production credentials, those categories stay excluded or on hold while the responsible reviewers resolve the issue. A positive reply from a prospective buyer does not remove that hold.
Start with the inventory example, see how Origin works, or describe your company without uploading files.
Common questions
Does removing names settle whether we can share records?
No. Removing identifiers does not by itself settle contractual restrictions, confidentiality duties, or the rights needed for the proposed use. Review those questions separately.
Does read-only access mean the recipient cannot copy data?
Do not assume that. Ask what the connection can read or extract, which systems are included, when access ends, and what happens to any copies.
Can we withdraw permission after data has been used?
Check the proposed agreement. Ending future access, deleting stored copies, and ending previously granted uses are different questions. Ask the recipient to explain what survives termination before you agree.
Sources and further reading
Origin Data Partners is independent and not affiliated with any buyer named on this page.