The Climate Corporation today announced principles and commitments related to data use and privacy published on-line in a Guiding Principles on Data and Privacy statement.

“The application of data science in agriculture is relatively new, and with the development of new technologies comes some level of uncertainty about its potential implications. In our experience, farmers are more likely to embrace new technologies that will drive the evolution of agricultural production when they have certainty about the use, privacy and control of the data they personally generate on their own farms,” said David Friedberg, CEO of The Climate Corporation.

The Climate Corporation, which was acquired by Monsanto in October 2013, also announced the formation of an Open Agriculture Data Alliance (OADA). The alliance will be comprised of “providers and farmers to act as an independent body that will ensure that different platforms share common interoperability, common data formats, and security and privacy standards.”

Climate Corporation held a call with reporters on Friday to talk about the announcement: Climate Corporation media call

Since privacy of agricultural data is becoming a big concern for farmers and ranchers, the American Farm Bureau Federation adopted specific policies this year on that issue. AFBF president Bob Stallman issued a statement on the Climate Corporation announcement saying they are “encouraged that agribusinesses are taking our clear policy position into consideration” noting that “the company is working to address some of the concerns about data privacy, security and ownership expressed by our members.”