Research Data Agreement
1. Purpose
Hive Complete offers an optional research data sharing program that allows beekeepers to contribute anonymized data to help advance the understanding of colony health, treatment efficacy, and beekeeping best practices. This agreement explains what data is shared, how it is anonymized, and your controls over participation.
2. Opt-In Participation
Research data sharing is entirely voluntary. You control participation at two levels:
- Default setting: In your account settings, you can choose whether the "Contribute to research" checkbox is pre-checked on new inspections, treatments, and harvests.
- Per-record override: Regardless of your default, you can opt in or out on each individual inspection, treatment, or harvest record.
You can change your default at any time. Changing your default does not retroactively affect records you have already submitted.
3. What Data Is Shared
When you opt in on a record, the following data may be included in anonymized research datasets:
- Colony health ratings (brood pattern, temperament, population)
- Varroa mite counts and monitoring methods
- Treatment types, methods, products, and efficacy outcomes
- Harvest weights and types
- Hive type and general status
- Approximate geographic region (state/province level, never exact coordinates)
- Date of record (month and year only)
4. What Data Is Never Shared
The following information is never included in research data, regardless of your opt-in status:
- Your name, email, or account details
- Hive names, apiary names, or organization names
- Exact GPS coordinates or street addresses
- Personal notes or comments
- Photos
- Financial or billing information
- Any information that could identify you personally
5. Anonymization Process
Before inclusion in any research dataset, your data is stripped of all identifying information. Records are assigned random identifiers that cannot be traced back to your account. Geographic coordinates are generalized to state or province level. Dates are reduced to month and year. Data is only released in aggregate form with a minimum group size to prevent re-identification.
6. How Research Data Is Used
Anonymized, aggregated data may be used for:
- Academic research on honeybee health and colony management
- Regional and national beekeeping trend reports
- Treatment efficacy studies
- Extension service educational materials
- Public-interest publications on pollinator health
Research data is not sold to commercial entities. It may be shared with university researchers, government agricultural agencies, and nonprofit organizations focused on pollinator health.
7. Withdrawal
You may opt out of research data sharing at any time by updating your settings or individual records. Once data has been anonymized and included in an aggregate dataset, it cannot be individually removed, as it is no longer linked to your account. However, opting out ensures no future data is contributed.
8. Organization Data
If your organization enables research data modules (aggregate reporting, grant reporting), the organization may have its own data sharing policies. Organization-level data sharing is governed by the organization administrator's settings and does not override your individual per-record opt-in choices.
9. Changes to This Agreement
We may update this agreement to reflect changes in our data practices. Material changes will require re-acceptance. The effective date at the top of this document indicates the most recent revision.
10. Contact
For questions about research data sharing, contact us at research@hivecomplete.com.