What is open data?
Open Data is data that is freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents, or other mechanisms of control.
What is an open data portal?
An open data portal is an online platform which supports users in accessing collections of open data. Typical open data portals present the data of the organization which hosts the portal. 
How can I use the open data portal to view or download data?
Our team is committed to making City of Dallas data available for anyone to access online.  No registration or sign in is required to view or download our data.  However, by creating an account, you can save your own dataset visualizations and access ArcGIS online, where you can create your own maps, presentations, and story maps.
What is metadata?
Metadata are all of a dataset’s identifying information. This includes the dataset’s description, column details, terms of use, owner and tags.
What are tags?
Tags are the keywords of a particular dataset. They can be used to filter search results, or to find related datasets.
How do I navigate through the open data portal?
For more help interacting with our data site, please consult these video guides.
What if the data I am looking for is not available online?
If the data you are seeking is not listed in our Open Data catalog, please suggest the dataset to be published so that we may determine if the data you’re requesting is already collected and available to be added to the Open Data Portal.
How do I ask questions about a particular data?
This video guide will walk you through how to submit a comment or question about a particular dataset.
Does Dallas Open Data Portal include geospatial data?
Yes, our Open Data Portal is integrated with our Enterprise Geospatial Information System.
Where can I find the frequency of data refresh or update?
Once you locate a dataset of interest from our Catalog and display the dataset Primer Page, the section entitled “About this Dataset” in the middle of the page which will contain “Additional Information” that includes “Update Frequency” if the dataset is dynamic and has an automated refresh schedule.  If you don’t see “Additional Information” with an “Update Frequency” your dataset contains static data and you will know how recent the information is by looking at the “Data Last Updated” date under the “Update” heading.
Who should I contact if regarding Dallas Police Department Data?
To contact Dallas Police Department directly for more information regarding files that contain police data such as Police Incidents, Active Calls and others, click here 
Where do I need to go to submit an Open Records Request?
Please visit City of Dallas Public Records Center to submit an Open Records Request form.