The document discusses ethical issues related to agricultural data, including ownership, privacy, security, transparency, and benefit sharing. It explains that industry-led codes of conduct can help address these issues by building trust, setting common standards, increasing awareness, and fostering inclusiveness. The GODAN/CTA/GFAR toolkit aims to help stakeholders develop customized codes of conduct by selecting relevant clauses from a template addressing topics like consent, data protection, and compliance with laws. The overall goal is to provide guidance for responsible decision making around agricultural data use and privacy.

1. Data Ethics Think Tank
October 14th, 2020
GODAN/CTA/GFAR Code of Conduct Toolkit
Foteini Zampati

2. • Uncertainty of data onwership/control of access and use/not recognized in
legislation
• Privacy(a.personal data,b. Definitional issues such as whether all (or some)
farm data should be considered personal or not).
• Security
• Lack of transparency and trust
• Farmer’s rights
• Lack of awareness and informed consent from data generator, primarily the
farmer
• Lack of benefit sharing between farmers and agribusinesses(in many cases
farmers are unaware of the value of benefit sharing)
• Data asymetries, power and knowledge imbalancies between the
stakeholders(eg.because of limited access of some farmers to digital
technologies or to the data they generate)-digital divide.
• Risk of misuse of farmer’s data
• Monopolies
Ethical issues around ag data

3. Why Codes of Conduct
• Trust
• Normative gaps
Industry-led self-regulation in the form of codes of conduct or voluntary guidelines can have a role
in filling the legislative void and setting common standards for farm data sharing contracts even
across countries and regions.
• Simplifying the assessment of behaviours
Like in other sectors when companies want to demonstrate compliance with social responsibility
requirements. Forms of accreditation
• Awareness building
Codes of conduct can change the way agribusinesses thinks about data and make data producers,
primarily farmers, more aware of their rights.
• Participation and inclusiveness
Codes of conduct are normally co-developed by different organizations representing the concerned
stakeholders. This fosters trust and increases credibility.
Sanderson, J., Wiseman, L., Poncini, S. What’s behind the ag-data logo? An examination of voluntary agricultural-data codes of
practice. In: International Journal of Rural Law and Policy, no. 1 (2018)

4. Learn more about this tool at
https://www.godan.info/codes
GODAN/CTA/GFAR toolkit on codes of conduct
• Α CTA working paper on Review of existing codes of
conduct,voluntary guidelines and principles relevant for
farm data sharing was produced as a result of the
GODAN/CTA sub-group on codes of conduct
(https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/1065
87/2113_PDF.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)
• May 2020 the launch of the GODAN/CTA/GFAR online
tool on codes of conduct where everyone can learn
about the codes of conduct for open agriculture data,
then build, save and share their own.
• Development of a general, scalable and customisable
code of conduct template that addresses the needs of all
actors in the agricultural data ecosystem
• The tool features clauses from which the users should be
able to select, if they think they are relevant and proceed
to a checkout where the selected clauses can be used as
an output to a document.

5. GODAN/CTA/GFAR toolkit on codes of conduct
1.Definitions
2.Ability to control and access
3.Consent for collection, access, control​
4.Purpose Limitation
5.Notice
6.Transparency and Consistency
7.Rights of the Data Originator
8.Right to Benefit
9.Disclosure, use and sale limitation
10.Data retention and availability
11.Contract Termination
12.Unlawful or anti-competitive activites
13.Data protection safeguards
14.Liability and Protection of IP rights​
15.Simple and Understandable Contracts
16.Certification Schemes
17.Compliance with National and International Laws
The tool features the following clauses from which the users should be able to select a clause if they think it is
relevant and proceed to a checkout where the selected clauses can be used as an output to a document.
These clauses are not intended to be exhaustive and are no substitute for a robust institutional framework to
guide and operationalize decision making concerning privacy, ethics.

6. Get involved!
• Join us and contribute to GODAN’s efforts worldwide
• We welcome your ideas and contributions
• Data Rights and Responsible Data Working Group
• https://www.godan.info/working-groups/data-rights-and-responsible-
data-working-group-0
• Sub-group on codes of conduct
• https://www.godan.info/working-groups/sub-group-data-codes-
conduct