Adding additional categories of inaccessibility (VPN, others) to Data Access Description

[larsvilhuber]

what some perceive as "openly available" data may not be for others. I.e., "public-use" data may not always be accessible from a "global" public, but only from a national public.

Examples:

• German SOEP data are easily available with a simple agreement in the EU, but only a 90% sample is accessible outside of the EU, and only after signing somewhat complicated contracts (contracts which my university refuses to sign as-is...)
• Some Chilean public-use datasets are only accessible from within Chile (the entire website is not accessible from outside the country). VPN or physical presence required.
• Most (all?) Chinese public-use or "simple registration" datasets are only accessible in China, or via VPN, increasingly so.
• Some French datasets (Progedo/Quetelet) are "public-use" only in France (or EU)
• US government datasets are "public domain" .... but strictly speaking, only in the US. (This does not appear to ever be enforced)

I am therefore proposing the following addition to required information on access to data:

• Data are available only while physically in [COUNTRY].
• Data are available only with a VPN.

Alternatively, expand the existing examples (proposed by @joanllull )