Sharing research data across institutions requires a data use agreement, and drafting one from scratch delays collaborations by weeks. This free tool builds the core draft of a data use agreement from the provider, recipient, data, and purpose, with its limits stated plainly: template builder only, no portal workflow, no signatures, no storage.
What the tool does
You enter the data provider, the data recipient, a description of the data, and the permitted purpose. The tool assembles a draft with those details plus standard core terms: use only for the permitted purpose, no attempt to re-identify individuals, secure keeping, and no sharing with third parties without written permission. The draft ends with a note that it is a template requiring review by legal and data protection offices. Nothing is signed, stored, or sent anywhere; the draft exists only on the page until you copy it.
How to use it
Describe the data precisely, including its time period and whether it is anonymised, pseudonymised, or identifiable, since that description determines which legal rules apply. State the purpose narrowly: non-commercial research on survey methods is a purpose a data office can approve, while research in general is not. Generate the draft, copy it, and send it to both institutions’ data offices with the data description attached, then let the offices add the clauses this template deliberately omits, such as retention periods, breach notification, and governing law.
Worked example
A university hospital provides anonymised survey responses from 2024 to 2025 to a research institute for non-commercial research on survey methods. The draft names both parties, describes the data and its period, states the permitted purpose, and sets the core terms on re-identification, security, and onward sharing. That draft is enough for the two data offices to begin their review, and it makes the first conversation concrete: the offices negotiate additions to a real text, not abstract requirements.
Reading the results honestly
A core-terms draft is a starting point, not an agreement. The clauses that matter most in a dispute, such as what happens on breach, how long data may be kept, and which country’s law governs, are not in this template, and their absence must not be mistaken for agreement on them. If the data involves health, children, or other sensitive categories, expect a much longer review and possibly a different legal basis entirely; a template cannot shortcut that. Never share data on the basis of this draft alone.
Honest limits
This tool is a template builder only, stated plainly in the tool itself: it provides no portal workflow, no routing to data offices, no electronic signatures, no storage, and no tracking of agreement status. It does not know data protection law in any jurisdiction, does not assess whether the data is truly anonymised, and does not verify the parties. For any real data sharing, institutional legal and data protection review is mandatory, and this draft is only the document that review starts from.
Practical tips
Begin the data agreement process when the collaboration is first discussed, not when the analysis is ready to start, since data offices are often the slowest step. Prepare a one-page data description in advance, covering source, variables, identifiability, and security measures, because data officers ask for it first. Keep the signed agreement, not just this draft, with the project records for the full retention period.
When data must be returned or destroyed
Most data use agreements end with return or destruction of the data, and that ending deserves as much planning as the beginning. Agree at the outset how destruction will be proven, such as a written certificate, and who must confirm it, since a vague promise to delete data satisfies nobody in an audit. Keep the signed agreement and the destruction certificate together for the retention period your institution requires, and tell everyone who held the data, including students and collaborators who have since moved on, so no forgotten copy survives the official ending.
Related tools
Spanish version: Portal de Acuerdos de Uso de Datos Gratis y Online: Borradores DUA · All free online tools.
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