# Play three: Assess the policy, regulatory and ethical context

This section will help you identify and understand important aspects of the wider context that impact the access, use and sharing of data by your initiative. The key question you want to answer here is whether the policies and rules around data are conducive to building the data infrastructure you need to tackle the problem you have identified.

<figure><img src="https://242954767-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fpb6xDffhgi9f80ZORaUG%2Fuploads%2Fx5LOO1dHjsQxkPzYb2iX%2FBarclays%20-%20ODI%20Data%20Ethics%20Canvas%20-%20Learning%20team%20derivative%20-%202020-08-26_Page_1.jpg?alt=media&#x26;token=74bb469e-133b-4336-ae85-641383cec26a" alt=""><figcaption><p>The Data Ethics Canvas - Open Data Institute</p></figcaption></figure>

Activities in this section include:

* [Understanding the legal, regulatory and policy context of the initiative](https://open-data-institute.gitbook.io/data-landscape-playbook/play-three-assess-the-policy-regulatory-and-ethical-context/understand-the-regulatory-context-of-the-initiative)
* [Understanding the ethical issues that might impact the initiative](https://open-data-institute.gitbook.io/data-landscape-playbook/play-three-assess-the-policy-regulatory-and-ethical-context/data-ethics)

By the end of this section you should be able to:

* Inform your theory of change based on the policy and ethics landscape
* Plan any additional actions to comply with regulations
* Address or mitigate any negative ethical consequence that the initiative might not have considered