Data Protection in Digital Agribusiness

This page is a translation of the original Portuguese text, provided for convenience. It deals with Brazilian law. If there is any discrepancy, the Portuguese version prevails. Read the original in Portuguese

Digital agribusiness collects massive volumes of personal and operational data, and the lack of adequate due diligence exposes farmers and companies in the sector to severe legal risks under the LGPD (Brazil’s General Data Protection Law).

Digitalization in the Field and the Data Involved

The digital transformation of Brazilian agribusiness has moved quickly in recent years. Precision agriculture platforms, drones equipped with multispectral sensors, farm management systems (agricultural ERPs), marketplaces for inputs and commodities, and weather-monitoring apps have become part of everyday life for producers of every size. This digitalization brings significant gains in productivity and efficiency, but it has also created a complex ecosystem for collecting, storing, and sharing data, one that deserves qualified legal attention.

When we look at how information flows through digital agribusiness, we find distinct categories of data moving among many different parties. These include personal data of farm workers (identity documents, biometric information used for time tracking, occupational health data), data on producers (CPF, or individual taxpayer ID, financial information, rural credit history), georeferenced data on properties (which can reveal land-use patterns and strategic business information), and operational data from connected machinery. The General Data Protection Law (Law 13.709/2018) applies directly to the processing of personal data in this context, and failing to comply with it can lead to administrative sanctions, lawsuits, and significant reputational harm.

Many companies in the sector still treat LGPD compliance as a secondary concern, putting off investments in data governance in favor of production innovations. That approach carries a concrete legal risk, especially because the ANPD (Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority) has been steadily expanding its enforcement activity, and the courts are receiving a growing number of cases involving privacy violations in agribusiness commercial and employment relationships. Learn more about Digital Marketing and the LGPD.

Data Due Diligence: Concept and Application to Agribusiness

Data due diligence is a structured process of investigating, mapping, and evaluating the personal data processing practices of an organization, or of third parties it works with. In digital agribusiness, this analysis takes on specific features that go beyond the traditional models used in other sectors of the economy. We need to consider the agricultural production chain in its entirety, from collecting data in the field to sharing it with trading companies, cooperatives, rural credit lenders, and government agencies.

The first pillar of data due diligence in agribusiness is a complete map of the life cycle of personal information. You examine which data is collected, by what means (apps, IoT sensors, digital contracts, management platforms), for what stated purpose, how long it is stored, who has access to it, and whether it is shared with third parties. This inventory is essential for identifying vulnerabilities and confirming that there is an appropriate legal basis for each processing operation, as Article 7 of the LGPD requires.

The second pillar is the evaluation of technology vendors. Precision agriculture companies, developers of farm management software, cloud service providers, and manufacturers of connected equipment act as processors of personal data in their dealings with the farmer or agroindustrial company. The due diligence should review the contracts signed with these vendors to check whether they contain appropriate clauses on data protection, purpose limitation, information security measures, incident notification procedures, and responsibility in the event of a data breach.

Data due diligence in digital agribusiness is not just a regulatory formality. It is a strategic risk-management tool that protects the assets, reputation, and operational continuity of the farming business.

The third pillar is the regulatory compliance review itself. You check whether the organization has appointed a data protection officer (DPO), whether it keeps records of its processing operations, whether it has prepared Data Protection Impact Assessments (known in Brazil as RIPD) for high-risk activities, whether it has implemented technical and administrative security measures, and whether it has effective channels for responding to the data subject rights set out in Article 18 of the LGPD.

Specific Risks and Critical Points in the Sector

Digital agribusiness has particular vulnerabilities that we frequently identify during due diligence. The first critical point is the collection of biometric data from farm workers. Fingerprint access control systems, facial recognition for recording work hours, and camera monitoring at agroindustrial facilities all involve sensitive personal data, which the LGPD protects more strictly (Article 11). The absence of specific and prominent consent, or of another appropriate legal basis for processing this sensitive data, is a serious violation. Learn more about Blockchain and Data Protection.

The second critical point is data sharing with cooperatives and trading companies. When a farmer uses digital platforms to sell crops, personal and commercial data passes among many economic actors. Often, the terms of use of these platforms contain generic clauses that authorize broad sharing of information with “business partners” without adequate specification, which violates the principles of purpose and necessity in Article 6 of the LGPD.

The third critical point relates to the Internet of Things (IoT) in the field. Soil sensors, connected weather stations, autonomous drones, and farm machinery with telemetry generate large volumes of data. Although some of this information is technical and operational in nature (and therefore not personal data), combining it with georeferenced and registration data can make it possible to identify individuals, which brings the LGPD into play. Careful analysis of this possibility of indirect identification is essential in due diligence.

The fourth critical point concerns digital rural credit operations. Fintechs and financial institutions that offer agricultural credit through digital platforms collect borrowers’ financial, asset, and production data. Combining that information with crop data obtained by satellite and with public agency records creates detailed profiles that, if poorly protected, can cause significant material and non-material harm to the data subjects.

Implementing a Compliance Program in Practice

Building an effective data protection program for digital agribusiness calls for a pragmatic approach that is proportionate to the size and complexity of the operation. We do not recommend simply importing corporate models designed for urban businesses without adapting them to the sector’s specific characteristics. The program must take into account the operational reality of the field, the seasonality of activities, the profile of the workers involved, and the technological infrastructure limitations that still exist in many producing regions.

The first step is to prepare a data inventory, a document that catalogs all the processing operations carried out by the organization. For farms and agroindustrial companies, this map should include worker data (hiring, payroll, occupational health, eSocial), data on suppliers and individual customers, data collected by equipment and management software, and data shared with cooperatives, trading companies, banks, and regulatory agencies. Learn more about Data Protection and Edge Computing Services.

Next, we carry out a gap analysis, comparing the practices identified in the inventory with the requirements of the LGPD and ANPD regulations. This analysis reveals the areas of noncompliance that need to be corrected first. We often find, for example, contracts with technology vendors that contain no data protection clauses, privacy policies that are outdated or nonexistent, no procedures for handling data subject requests, and no response plan for security incidents.

The following stage is implementing corrective measures, prioritized according to the level of risk identified. The core of these actions includes information security measures (encryption, access control, backup, network monitoring), review and adjustment of contracts with data processors, preparation of internal policies (privacy, information security, data retention and disposal), employee training, and formal appointment of a data protection officer.

Contracts with Agricultural Technology Vendors

Contract review deserves special attention in digital agribusiness due diligence. Contracts with precision agriculture companies, farm management software providers, agronomic consultancies that use digital platforms, and manufacturers of IoT equipment should contain, at a minimum, clauses that clearly define each party’s responsibilities in processing personal data, the security measures required, the procedures for notifying incidents, the conditions for subcontracting (sub-processors), the duty to cooperate in responding to data subject rights, and the contractual consequences of failing to meet data protection obligations.

International Data Transfers

Many agricultural technology platforms use cloud computing infrastructure hosted abroad. Likewise, international trading companies that buy Brazilian commodities may receive personal data of producers and workers. These situations amount to international transfers of personal data, which Article 33 of the LGPD regulates, and they require specific safeguards (standard contractual clauses, certifications, or global corporate rules) that should be verified during due diligence.

Legal Consequences of Noncompliance

The consequences of neglecting data protection in digital agribusiness are many. On the administrative side, the ANPD can impose sanctions ranging from warnings to fines of up to 2% of the legal entity’s revenue (capped at R$ 50 milhões per violation), as well as public disclosure of the violation, blocking or deletion of the personal data involved, and partial or total suspension of the operation of the database.

In court, data subjects who suffer harm (material or moral) as a result of LGPD violations may seek compensation through individual or class actions. Civil liability for harm caused by the unlawful processing of personal data may be joint and several between the controller and the processor, depending on the circumstances of the case (Articles 42 to 45 of the LGPD). For agribusiness, this means that a farmer or agroindustrial company can be held liable for failures by its technology vendors if it did not exercise adequate diligence in selecting and overseeing those partners.

Beyond these direct consequences, noncompliance can affect access to international markets that are increasingly demanding about data governance. The European Union (with the GDPR) and other economic blocs that import Brazilian agricultural commodities treat data protection as a due diligence requirement in supply chains. The digital reputation of Brazilian agribusiness abroad also depends on showing responsible data processing practices.

As informações deste artigo são de caráter informativo e não substituem consulta jurídica individualizada. Cada caso possui particularidades que exigem análise específica.