Methodology

How the laboratory goes from a public document to a published figure.

Sources and captures

Each source has a fact sheet with its agency, its licence and the way it is obtained. The laboratory prefers, in this order, an official API, open data and files published by the agency. Each file obtained is kept as received, with its date and its sha256 fingerprint, and that capture is what gets processed.

Indicators

Each indicator has a versioned fact sheet with its definition, unit, coverage, limitations and the sources it cites. A change of method is a new version of the fact sheet, and each published value states the version used to compute it.

Personal data protection

Sources on operators include natural persons. The laboratory publishes only aggregates, withholds cells below the threshold set by its policy and does not publish names, tax identifiers or contact details, even when the source does.

No hidden estimates

The laboratory does not impute or estimate values without saying so. An estimated value carries its flag and its method, and a value the source does not provide is left empty.