Privacy & Sharing
Control who sees your data. This guide covers visibility settings, GPS privacy controls, and licensing options for public datasets.
Last updated: February 2026
Warning
Noktura is a data sharing platform for agricultural research, not private cloud storage. Platform administrators have complete access to all content (including private datasets) to prevent abuse and ensure compliance with our terms of service. Only upload agricultural images you have the right to share. Misuse of the platform (including uploading non-agricultural content or illegal material) results in immediate account deactivation.
Visibility Options
Every dataset in Noktura has a visibility setting that controls who can access it. Choose carefully. Some visibility changes are permanent.
Private
Only you can see and access the dataset. Use this for:
- Work in progress that isn't ready to share yet
- Temporary staging before sharing with groups or making public
Note
Private does not mean confidential. Administrators can still view private datasets to enforce platform policies. Noktura is designed for sharing data with the agricultural research community. If you need truly confidential storage, consider a dedicated private cloud service.
Group
Share with specific groups you belong to. Use this for:
- Team collaboration within your research group
- Sharing with external collaborators
- Controlled sharing before public release
You can share with multiple groups simultaneously. Group members can view and download but cannot edit your dataset.
Public
Anyone can discover, view, and download the dataset. Use this for:
- Published research data
- Open datasets for the research community
- Training data for machine learning
Warning
Public visibility is permanent and cannot be revoked. Once a dataset is made public, it cannot be changed back to private or group-only. This ensures that researchers who discover and cite your data can rely on continued access. Public datasets also require a license selection. See Licensing below.
GPS Privacy Controls
GPS coordinates in agricultural images can reveal sensitive information about farm locations. Noktura provides granular control over location data visibility.
Note
Location data (latitude/longitude) is set at the dataset level. When you share a dataset with groups, you control GPS visibility per group. Different groups can see different levels of location detail. The dataset's region and country are always visible to help others discover relevant data.
GPS Visibility Options
When sharing with a group, you choose one of these visibility levels for that group:
| Option | What Group Members See |
|---|---|
| All | Full precision coordinates |
| Admins only | Only group admins see coordinates; regular members see region/country |
| None | No coordinates shown (region/country still visible) |
Tip
Your original GPS data is always preserved in your account. Privacy settings only affect what others see when viewing or downloading your dataset.
GPS in Downloads
When others download your dataset, the GPS data in downloaded images follows the visibility settings for their access level. If you set location visibility to “None” for a group, members downloading the dataset receive files with GPS data removed.
Licensing
Public datasets must have a license that tells others how they can use your data. Noktura supports Creative Commons licenses, the standard for open scientific data.
CC BY 4.0 (Attribution)
Recommended for maximum impact. Others can:
- Share – Copy and redistribute in any format
- Adapt – Remix, transform, and build upon
- Use commercially – Including in products and services
Requirement: Credit must be given to you as the original creator.
CC BY-NC 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial)
Same as CC BY, but with one restriction:
- No commercial use – Cannot be used in commercial products/services
- Research and education – Always permitted
- Attribution required – Same as CC BY
Note
Choose CC BY if you want maximum adoption of your data. Choose CC BY-NC if you want to prevent commercial exploitation while still enabling research.
License Implications
- Licenses are permanent – You cannot revoke a license after publication
- Downloads keep the license – Even if you later delete the dataset
- Attribution format – Noktura provides a standard citation for your dataset
Sharing with Groups
Groups provide controlled sharing with specific people.
How to Share with a Group
- Open your dataset settings
- Select “Group” visibility
- Choose one or more groups to share with
- Set GPS visibility level for each group
- Save changes
Group Member Permissions
- View – See dataset details and browse images
- Download – Download images and metadata
- Cannot edit – Only the owner can modify the dataset
Changing Visibility
You can change visibility in some directions, but not all:
Private → Group or Public
- No restrictions
- For public, you must select a license
Group → Public
- Requires license selection
- Group members retain access
Group → Private
- Allowed – You can stop sharing with groups
- Previous downloads by group members remain on their devices
Warning
Public is permanent. You cannot change a public dataset back to private or group-only. Once public, always public. Think carefully before making data public. Once downloaded by others, you cannot retroactively restrict their use under the selected license.
Data Deletion
When you delete a single dataset, that dataset and all its images are removed; any groups it was shared into lose access immediately.
When you delete your whole account:
- Every dataset you own (public, group, or private) is hard-deleted along with its images
- Groups you own that have other members – deletion is blocked; you must transfer ownership or delete each group first
- Solo groups you own (just you as a member) – deleted with your account
- Datasets others own that you could see via a group – unaffected; you're just removed from the group
Full details on the Account help page.
See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service for full details.
Next Steps
Group Management – Create and manage research groups
Uploading Datasets – Learn the upload workflow
FAQ – Common questions and answers