Cadasta recognizes the tremendous potential of open data in securing property rights and enabling development. At the same time, we understand the sensitivity of land data and the risks associated with making it open, particularly for vulnerable communities. That’s why we have created a secure platform for our partners in which they control the privacy settings, while at the same time, we are working in other settings to encourage governments to open the data they have.
When governments open their data on land use and concessions, conservationists can see what land is protected and what land is under threat, and individuals and communities can check to ensure that their rights are properly documented.
Where and when landowners need to be protected, governments can open their land records without disclosing the names of individual owners.
Cadasta believes best practices for open data cannot simply be based on protocols in advanced economies. Releasing an owner’s name in a highly developed and relatively equitable country can help prevent corruption. But revealing the same information in a country with less formal land documentation or high rates of inequality can result in the dispossession or displacement of vulnerable communities.
