FAQ ‐ Difference between accessRestriction, useRestriction, and accessRights

What's the difference between accessRestriction, useRestriction, and accessRights, and what values go in them?

These go on the Distribution inside the Dataset. accessRestriction and useRestriction describe a specific file or distribution inside a dataset.

Here are the descriptions of each field. The examples are pulled from other datasets, they're non-exhaustive and are an assumption of common usage.

• accessRestriction = who's allowed to access it
  • restrictionStatus: Restricted - Fully, Restricted - Partly, Restricted - Possibly, Undetermined, Unrestricted
  • specificRestriction: FOIA (b)(4) Trade Secrets and Commercial or Financial Information, FOIA (b)(6) Personal Information, FOIA (b)(8) Regulation or Supervision of Financial Institutions, Executive Privilege (full NARA list)
• useRestriction = what they're allowed to do with it once they have it
  • restrictionStatus: same five options as above
  • specificRestriction: Copyright, Donor Restrictions, Trademark, Service Mark, Other (full NARA list)

Both accessRestriction and useRestriction are optional (Recommended). If your data doesn't need this level of detail, just use accessRights instead.

• accessRights = a plain-text alternative when you don't need structured restriction data
  • example values: "Public", "Restricted", "Non-public"

Why the examples in the guide look different: restrictionStatus is typed as a Concept, which accepts three valid shapes, and the guide shows all three:

• "restrictionStatus": "Restricted"
• "restrictionStatus": "https://example.gov/concepts/restricted"
• "restrictionStatus": { "@type": "Concept", "prefLabel": "Restricted - Commercial Use" }

All three are valid. They represent different levels of detail for the same field. Unless you have an actual shared vocabulary you're linking to, use the plain string.

Example for a supervisory dataset with financial institution restrictions:

"accessRestriction": [
  {
    "restrictionStatus": "Restricted - Fully",
    "specificRestriction": "FOIA (b)(8) Regulation or Supervision of Financial Institutions"
  }
]

DA, last edited 2026-08-31