Frequently Asked Questions
What are the conditions to use the Agouti platform?
Agouti is available free of charge for academic and non-profit use. For commercial use please contact us. We try to facilitate as much projects as possible.
How much storage space do I get?
We don’t enforce a limit, but if you plan to upload a large amount of data (> 250 GB) in a short amount of time we appreciate if you let us know in advance.
What is the pricing?
We aim to facilitate projects that agree to publish or share their data in a public repository such as GBIF free of charge. For commercial use and large projects (< 250 GB), we appreciate some contribution towards development and server costs.
What responsibilities do I have as an Agouti user?
Your account is personal and should be kept secure. We also ask that you comply with applicable law. For example, don’t upload illegal material to Agouti, and ensure you have obtained the required permits for your study. When in doubt, discuss with your project’s principal investigator, who is responsible.
What kind of projects are suitable?
Any project using camera traps. Agouti is designed for projects that use several to hundreds of camera traps. Therefore, it is more suited towards scientific studies, monitoring and wildlife inventories than it is for individuals. Contact us when in doubt.
Where is my data stored?
All data in Agouti is stored on servers owned and maintained by Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. We do not use external (commercial) cloud storage.
How does Agouti handle personal data? (EU GDPR)
We minimize the amount of personal data stored in Agouti. However, some data is still collected. As an user, we need your consent to store your name and email address. You are asked for this consent when registering for an account.
Sensitive data, such as images containing recognizable people, within projects are treated with special care and made inaccessible to unauthorized users. We are developing a system to screen images for humans upon uploading so the images can be made inaccessible without the need for manual inspection. This means the record that a human was observed is kept, but the associated images can only be accessed with the appropriate authorization.
In general, project owners are responsible for any personal data collected within the project. They should ensure any personal data collected in their project was collected with consent or in line with GDPR requirements, such as performing a statutory task or legitimate interest.
The full GDPR consent text when registering for an Agouti account is:
By giving your consent, you agree to have voluntarily provided these personal data. You have the right to revoke the given consent. The personal information provided by you will be used solely for the purpose for which you have provided these. You have the right to inspect, delete, correct, and restrict the processing of personal data as well as the right to appeal and the right to data portability https://www.wur.nl/en/About-Wageningen/Integrity-and-privacy.htm Note: there is no absolute right for involved persons. This will always have to be considered per situation and the right invoked. If the processing is necessary for the performance of a statutory task or general interest (e.g.: for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistics), then the right to be forgotten does not exist. If you have a complaint, you can submit this to WUR via privacy@wur.nl. You can also file a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority. More information on this can be found at https://www.autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl. If you have any questions, then you can contact the Data Protection Officer of WUR via functionarisgegevensbescherming@wur.nl.
What data export formats are available?
All data exports are in the Camera Trap Data Package (or Camtrap DP for short). Camtrap DP is a community developed data exchange format for camera trap data. A full description of the data format can be found on https://tdwg.github.io/camtrap-d/.
We recommend using the R package camtraptor to work with the Camtrap DP. It offers functionality to read, explore and visualize Camera Trap Data Packages.
What camera models and file types are supported?
In principle, Agouti supports all brands and models of camera traps as long as the original files are uploaded. Any compression or resizing of images may damage their metadata and prevent Agouti from reading the timestamps correctly. In rare cases, some specific models of camera is giving issues. If that happens, please send a sample image to us.
What interface languages are supported?
Currently, we support English, German, French, Spanish, Croatian, Dutch and Polish. If you’d like to add another language and are willing to translate for us, please contact us.
What species list does Agouti use?
As a main list we use the Catalogue of Life (https://www.catalogueoflife.org/). If you find that a species is missing from the Agouti main list in your project settings, please send us the CoL URLs of the species you’d like us to add. We can add entries at the following taxonomic levels: order, family, genus, species and subspecies.
What roles are available?
Several, ranging to full access to view-only. Please see the table at roles and permission for details.
Can I use Agouti offline?
No, the centralized nature of Agouti means it cannot be used offline. This also ensures your data is kept safe, backed-up and protected against data loss.
How can I contribute to Agouti?
In several ways, for example:
By allowing us to use your images to improve the automatic species classification using AI. This is an internal process.
By making a financial donation or contribution.
By providing feedback and suggestions on the use of Agouti.
By telling your colleagues and peers about Agouti, if you think it may be an useful tools for them.
By mentioning that you used Agouti in your publications or dataset.
My question is not listed - how I can get in touch?
Email us as agouti@wur.nl.