Making Sense of Agricultural Data Governance: Data Protection, Privacy, and Rights
Digital technology and data analytics offer ways to support farm productivity and enhance sustainability, but these tools also raise important questions: Who collects and controls agricultural data? What are the rights and responsibilities of farmers, ranchers, and others working in primary production? What are the best approaches for data management to respect the knowledge and priorities of farmers? Join us to ask questions and learn from research and community work on agricultural data governance in Canada.
Sarah-Louise Ruder, University of British Columbia (UBC)
Sarah-Louise Ruder is a PhD candidate and public scholar at the University of British Columbia (UBC), studying food and agriculture in Canada. Her social science research focuses on the impacts and experiences of digital agricultural technologies in rural communities. She has published in the Ontario Grain Farmer magazine, news media, and academic journals. She is currently co-leading a cross-sectoral outreach project with the British Columbia Agricultural Climate Action Research Network to build capacity around “data governance” in agriculture (i.e., the structures, decisions, and accountabilities around the collection, use, and sharing of data on farms). Since 2020, she organized and facilitated 12 workshops about farmer data privacy and agricultural data governance in Canada, the US, and Mexico. Sarah-Louise grew up in rural Ontario, surrounded by thriving farms, on the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and part of the traditional Territory of the Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee Peoples, and the Anishnabek of the Williams Treaties.
Delaine Austin, British Columbia Agricultural Climate Action Research Network (BC ACARN)
Delanie Austin is a research and project assistant at the British Columbia Agricultural Climate Action Research Network (BC ACARN). Delanie is a 2023 graduate of the University of British Columbia (UBC), with dual degrees in Integrated Sciences and First Nations Indigenous Studies. She is also a Sustainability Educator and a member of the IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity, and access) Action Team at the UBC Botanical Garden. While at UBC, she was the co-president of Sprouts, a volunteer run food co-operative with multiple programs that combat food insecurity on campus and led a team of over 350 volunteers. Delanie is passionate about supporting equity- & community-based work in food security & justice, climate action, mental health, and education.