Data governance for agricultural research: legal certainty and self-regulation

Abstract

The digitization of agriculture, supported by public agricultural research, generates a large volume of agricultural and personal data. There is a relevant intersection between agricultural data (agrodata) and personal data, since, through the use of digital technologies, it becomes possible to identify farmers, raising questions about the effectiveness of the holders’ rights. For science and technology institutions (ICT, acronym in Portuguese), it is essential to associate scientific progress with the protection of personal data, since agrodata are relevant inputs for the knowledge production process. This article explores the theme of agrodata governance in agricultural research and reports on ongoing actions in an ICT, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), to adapt to the general law for the protection of personal data (LGPD, acronym in Portuguese), based on the analysis of the case study of a research project. Embrapa’s conservative stance is evident in adopting, as a priority, obtainment of the consent form of the holder for the processing of their personal data, and in some cases the framing of other legal hypotheses occurs. It is concluded that legal certainty, through the establishment of clear and well-founded guidelines for data governance, is an effective path for this connection.