Exchanging agricultural data: do you have the right authorisations?

Since Agdatahub was set up in November 2020, we've been talking a lot about "farmers' consent to the use of their data". That's all becoming clearer now! From now on, we'll be talking more in terms of authorisation. Why this change in vocabulary? What does the new term "authorisation" imply? Three points to explain.

1. Why do we need to talk about authorisation and consent when exchanging data?

These two very specific terms appear in the various European regulatory texts on data. As part of its data strategy, the European Commission has published a number of texts that are now in force. Those of interest to us are the Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data (RGPD) and the Data Governance Act (DGA). The latter deals with non-personal data and came into force in September 2023. It was incorporated into French law by the Securing and Regulating the Digital Space (SREN) Act, enacted on 22 May 2024.

In the context of data exchanges, it is now correct to speak of : il est désormais exact de parler :

• consent in the case of personal data
• d’autorisation authorisation in the case of non-personal data, such as data relating to organisations or legal entities.

READ MORE: L’autorisation, un principe clé préalable à tout échange de données agricoles

2. What is the purpose of authorisation in the context of data exchange?

First and foremost, it's a question of trust! Authorisation is granted by the data owner to a third party for the use of data from his farm.

The authorisation must cover several points:

• The identity of the partner wishing to access the farm data
• The type of data involved in the exchange
• The use that will be made of the data by the partner
• The data provider (the organisation collecting or storing the data to be shared)
• The period of validity of the request

3. Why implement an authorisation management system for the exchange of agricultural data?

As mentioned above, the European Union has structured its data regulations in just a few years. So you need to comply with European regulations and be able to prove that you are authorised to use a third party's data.

Another advantage is that it simplifies administration! Here are two examples:

• Say goodbye to the chore of chasing paper authorisations and accumulating them, and hello to security and confidence in exchanges.
• No more need to store a multitude of documents: the ongoing verification of the validity of authorisations is fully automated.

For your information: the free Agritrust application enables farmers to keep control of how their data is used. Developed with our technology partners (IN Groupe and Orange Business), the Agritrust mobile application features a dashboard accessible via a computer, from which farmers can view all the authorisations they have granted and revoke them if necessary.
https://agritrust.fr