The responses confirm a lack of understanding about user agreement terminology and how those agreements define the rights of each producer.
For example, when asked to provide definitions for terms such as “personal data,” “machine data” and “agronomic data,” nearly 40 percent of the respondents said they did not know. Yet these are key terms in most user agreements.
“While these terms are not always defined consistently throughout the industry, at Case IH we believe producers need to have a clear understanding of our intentions,” Mecham said. “The terms of use from Case IH defines ‘agronomic data’ (yield, planting) as separate from ‘machine data’ (engine performance), whereas other manufacturers label both of these categories as ‘machine data,’ adding to confusion.” For example, when it comes to agronomic data, no one at Case IH or the dealership has access to specific details about the customer’s acreage, crops, yields, cropping practices, etc. The survey also revealed producer concerns about their ability to share data among brands of equipment. While 39 percent said they could transfer data among brands of equipment, 36 percent said they didn’t know whether they could, and 25 percent said they could not transfer the data. This issue represents challenges for diverse operations that want to expand their data management capabilities.
“One of the things we’ve tried to do at Case IH is to clarify and simplify the usage agreement for AFS Connect,” Mecham said. “As a founding member of the Open Ag Data Alliance (OADA), Case IH adheres to the organization’s standards of data privacy and use and interoperability for the entire agriculture industry.” OADA standards make it easy to analyze and share mixed-fleet data and to keep fleet and maintenance management systems up to date and interconnected as fleets change. The survey also suggested there is a lack of understanding regarding the impact of not sharing data with their present provider. Nearly half (43 percent) said they did not know the impact of no longer sharing the data, 9 percent said they would not be able to use their system if they stopped sharing, and 7 percent said they didn’t have the option of not sharing data with their system provider. “At Case IH, we believe in transparency and readily encourage producers to review and ask questions about the user agreement before they sign up with any provider,” Mecham said. “Producers need to understand all aspects, limitations and provisions for data usage and sharing.”
For Case IH is a global leader in agricultural equipment, committed to collaborating with its customers to develop the most powerful, productive, reliable equipment — designed to meet today’s agricultural challenges. With headquarters in the United States, Case IH has a network of dealers and distributors that operates in over 160 countries. Case IH provides agricultural equipment systems, flexible financial service offerings and parts and service support for professional farmers and commercial operators through a dedicated network of professional dealers and distributors. Productivity-enhancing products include tractors; combines and harvesters; hay and forage equipment; tillage tools; planting and seeding systems; sprayers and applicators; site-specific farming tools; and utility vehicles. Case IH is a brand of CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI). |