A Better Deal for LiteFarm Data

LiteFarm is adopting the Better Deal for Data (BD4D) Standard, a lightweight data governance standard for the social sector.

Every time a farmer records a harvest, draws a field boundary, or logs a farm activity in LiteFarm, they create and entrust us with something valuable: their data. That data can help farmers understand their operations, demonstrate their impact, and contribute to research that supports more sustainable and resilient food systems. But those benefits depend on trust and trust begins with a clear answer to a simple question: What happens to my data?

LiteFarm has always taken this question seriously. Our data policy states that farmers retain ownership of their data, remain in control of it, and can request that we correct, export, or delete it. But trust should not depend on an organization simply asking people to take its word for it. Farmers deserve commitments that are clear, shared, and accountable. That is why we are adopting the Better Deal for Data (BD4D) Standard.

About BD4D

Developed by Tech Matters in collaboration with nonprofit data leaders and practitioners, BD4D is a practical data-governance standard for the social sector. Version 1.0 launched in January 2026 and is built around seven plain-language commitments to the people and organizations whose data is collected, stored, analyzed, or shared.

The seven commitments of BD4D are:

1. Purpose: “We are using Your Data to benefit You, your community, humanity, and the planet, not for private gain or profit.”

2. Ownership: “We don’t claim ownership of Your Data.”

3. Control: “We will delete Your Data, correct it, or transfer it to You if You ask.”

4. Monetization: “We will not monetize Your Data by providing it to third parties for compensation.”

5. Protection: “We will steward Your Data with care, and comply with applicable data privacy laws.”

6. Research: “If we or a trusted partner do research based on Your Data, we will follow best practices around the anonymization of personal data, and published research papers or reports will be made available to You for free.”

7. Binding: “We will be legally bound by these Commitments, and anyone we share Your Data with will be similarly bound.”

Why this matters for LiteFarm

All of these commitments reflect how LiteFarm already approaches data. Adopting BD4D is not a change in direction; it is a decision to make that direction clearer, more consistent, and more accountable.

Two commitments are especially important to our work: we are committed to research serving the populations where the data is generated. LiteFarm is based at a research institution, and anonymized farm data may be shared with trusted academic partners for non-commercial research supporting sustainable food systems transitions. BD4D makes an important expectation explicit: when farm data contributes to a published paper or report, that work should be freely available to the farmers and communities who helped make it possible.

Responsibility should follow the data. Good data stewardship cannot end when data leaves our research team. Under BD4D, organizations that receive data from us must be held to the same commitments. This means reviewing not only our own policies and practices, but also the agreements we make with research and data partners.

What will change?

The principles behind BD4D are already closely aligned with LiteFarm’s approach. The work now is to make those principles easier to see and harder to weaken. As part of adoption, we are reviewing and updating our data policy, internal practices, and partner agreements. The BD4D seven commitments will be consistently applied wherever LiteFarm data is handled. 

In practical terms, farmers can continue to expect our current policy to be upheld:

• their data remains theirs;

• they can access, correct, export, or delete it;

• LiteFarm will not sell their data;

• personal data used for research will be anonymized using established best practices;

• research based on their data will be made freely available; and

• trusted partners will be expected to uphold the same commitments.

A standard becomes stronger when it is shared

If your organization, either a software platform, research group, cooperative or certifier, builds technology for farmers or stewards agricultural data on their behalf, we encourage you to read the Better Deal for Data Standard and consider adopting it.

Farm data should create value for farmers, their communities, and the planet, rather than being extracted from them. By adopting BD4D, LiteFarm is making that principle explicit and being held accountable to it.

Happy farming!

The LiteFarm Team