Data Rebellion: Defending Access to Public Health Data
In an era where public health data is increasingly under threat, we face a stark choice: remain silent, complain without action, or rise to the occasion and fight for the preservation of vital information. Data Rebellion is our answer. We choose action.
Why We Exist
Public health data is more than just numbers—it’s the backbone of services, research, and policies that save lives and promote equity. As access to this data becomes more restricted, the consequences ripple through communities, disproportionately affecting those who rely on it the most.
We are here because the status quo is no longer acceptable. Silence enables the erosion of public trust and transparency. Complaints without action change nothing. Data Rebellion exists to safeguard the datasets that underpin critical work in public health, social justice, and community advocacy.
Our Mission
To preserve, protect, and promote access to public health data, ensuring that no organization, researcher, or community effort fails due to the disappearance of essential information.
What We Do
We’re starting with the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a dataset crucial for understanding how different communities are affected by disasters, pandemics, and systemic inequalities. But this is just the beginning.
We will expand our efforts to include datasets focused on:
- Social Justice Metrics
- Poverty and Economic Disparities
- Health Inequities
- SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) Data
- Sexual Health Statistics
- And other datasets that are at risk due to political hostility or institutional neglect.
Who We Are (and Who We’re Not)
We are not the creators of this data. We are not affiliated with the CDC, HHS, or any other governmental body. We are advocates, technologists, public health professionals, and concerned citizens who believe that access to data is a fundamental right, not a privilege granted at the whim of political forces.
Why It Matters
Without reliable data:
- Programs falter. Nonprofits and community services lose their ability to target interventions effectively.
- Research stalls. Scientists and academics are left scrambling for foundational information, often wasting time and resources on what used to be easily found.
- Communities suffer. The people most affected by health disparities and social inequities become invisible.
Data is power. When access is restricted, power is hoarded. Data Rebellion exists to redistribute that power back to the people who need it most.
Join Us
This is more than a project; it’s a movement. We invite you to:
- Use the data. Build, research, advocate, share, do what good you’re already doing.
- Contribute. Help us expand the archive. Ping us on Bluesky when you see a data set missing that fits our mission, or if you find something that could be made easier to access.
- Support. Spread the word, or purchase our services. Aside from providing data we are also experts in Epidemiology, Data Science, and Natural Language Processing with years of experience in working with protected health data. Check out our Rent-A-Scientist page for more information, or ping us on BlueSky!
Together, we can ensure that no dataset disappears quietly, no voice goes unheard, and no community is left behind. This is our rebellion. This is Data Rebellion.