Data storage | Producers told to study agreements when storing precision agriculture data online

CALGARY — Precision agriculture produces a vast array of data in the form of precise location, field maps, yield figures, soil type and contour, electrical conductivity and irrigation.
In theory, at least, the data belongs to the farmers who paid for the technology to collect and calculate it.
But is that data protected and do farmers know what use might be made of their information by the companies who store it?
Karon Cowan, owner of Ontario-based AgTech GIS, told the Precision Ag Update Feb. 27 that they should think about data protection and use.
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“I think we’ve got some big data hunters, and I think they are offering trinkets and beads in exchange,” said Cowan.
Sharing precision agriculture data is not necessarily a bad thing, said the expert on ag specific data collection, but farmers should know what’s contained in the agreements they sign with data storage companies.
“Data is now seen as an asset, with value and a source of revenue for the data owner,” he said.
“So whose data is it anyway? If you’re going to share your data, what’s it worth to the people you’re sharing it with?”
Cowan outlined the three basic ways farm data collected by various internet connections is stored:
- Private data: Customers access their own information through a company server in a closed system.
- Closed cloud services: Customers buy their own database silo in a “cloud,” which is a large and secure data storage area. Most commonly, a company such as Cowan’s buys a portion of cloud storage and manages data stored there on behalf of a client. No one else has access to it.
- Owned big data: Customers use a web portal connected via the internet to another company’s large database. Access and alternative use of a customer’s data is often part of the contract agreement. This might involve aggregating multiple customers’ data to do large-scale analytics, collect market intelligence and improve products that the company can then offer back to customers.
As well, it might allow a company to sell customers’ data to others.
Cowan said farmers need to understand user agreements so that they are comfortable with the level of data sharing that might occur. However, as anyone who has downloaded a smart phone app will know, these agreements are often lengthy and confusing.
“I’m afraid that we’re abdicating ownership of data,” said Cowan.
“Big data analysis is likely to benefit agriculture by answering some of the big production questions, but the ultimate decision-maker needs to be a player and not a spectator.”
Cowan doesn’t see data sharing as necessarily dangerous but rather a factor that farmers should examine with full knowledge of where their information may go.
