Tech NewsBits – UK postcodes will not be open data, government decides

This comes out of the UK via Information Age as The Postcode Address File will remain the property of the Royal Mail after privatisation, despite hopes it might be put into the public domain 

The PAF is used by around 37,000 third party organisations, including businesses, in ways that include data quality management, online address capture, insurance premium calculation and market research. 

Currently, the Royal Mail is obliged to make the PAF available to anyone wishing to use it "under reasonable terms". It charges users a licence fee, which covers the cost of maintaining the database. 

Open data campaigners had called for the PAF to be released into the public domain on the event of Royal Mail’s privatisation. According to Nigel Shadbolt, chair of the Open Data Institute, the PAF is its "most requested data set".

See details HERE 

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