CGIAR has published Responsible Data Guidelines: Managing Privacy and Personally Identifiable Information in the Research Project Data Lifecycle intended to assist agricultural researchers handle privacy and personally identifiable information (PII) in the research project data lifecycle.

These guidelines are voluntary and aspirational in nature, intended as an aid for responsible decision making, not as a substitute for it. Agricultural researchers need to be pragmatic in striking a balance between privacy protection and open data in order to maximize the benefits in agronomy and international development offered by the ‘big data revolution’, while minimizing the potential for social or personal harm.