CARE principles and Indigenous Data Sovereignty
Indigenous Data Sovereignty
“Data have important implications for Indigenous Peoples’ ability to exercise their individual and collective rights to self-determination. Indigenous Peoples are often excluded from decision-making fora and their knowledge marginalised when such knowledge exists only as part as part of an oral tradition. Indigenous data sovereignty reinforces the rights to engage in decision-making in accordance with Indigenous values and collective interests.” (Global Indigenous Data Alliance, 2019)
Historic data inequities and data exploitation have created a need for practices grounded in supporting Indigenous Peoples’ interests and rights.
CARE principles
The CARE Principles are principles to be applied by scientists and data stewards which support both ‘innovation and Indigenous self-determination' (Carroll et al., 2020).
The CARE principles are: Collective Benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility and Ethics and are developed to be complementary to the FAIR principles.
Collective Benefit
Researchers should strive to enable Indigenous Peoples to derive benefit from data and be proactive about disseminating this usefully. This benefit should be for innovation, for improved governance and citizen engagement and for equitable outcomes.
Authority to Control
The authority to control means recognising the rights and interest of Indigenous Peoples to control data. This means collecting consent for data collection and giving ultimate control over data use and publication to Indigenous Peoples.
Responsibility
Responsibility should be on researchers to ensure data are used for Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination and collective benefit. They are responsible for creating positive relationships with Indigenous Peoples and groups. Resources must be provided to generate data grounded in the languages, worldviews, and lived experiences (including values and principles) of Indigenous Peoples.
Ethics
Considering ethics mean reducing potential harm which could be done to Indigenous Peoples throughout the data lifecycle, including by the future reuse of data.
Do the CARE principles apply to my project?
The CARE principles apply to any data that impacts Indigenous Peoples, their lands, their nations and their communities e.g. Arctic environments. This includes data about their environments and resources, as well as data about themselves.
The CARE principles apply to both observational data and modelling data.
When in the project lifecycle should CARE principles be applied?
The CARE principles should be applied as early as possible, ideally during proposal writing, and ideally proposals should be co-created, with appropriate engagement with relevant Indigenous groups/authorities/collaborators sought. Adequate compensation could be costed into the grant proposal.
If you are unsure about whether to and how to apply the CARE principles to your research project get in touch with a NERC data centre for further guidance.
Conflict with NERC data policy
The CARE principles can be in conflict with NERC data policy as CARE gives Indigenous Peoples the right to refuse data publication, whereas NERC data policy requires data to be made open within 2 years after data collection. In such situations CARE principles should be carefully applied in collaboration with the appropriate NERC data centre.
References for further information
Carroll, S.R., Garba, I., Figueroa-Rodríguez, O.L., Holbrook, J., Lovett, R., Materechera, S., Parsons, M., Raseroka, K., Rodriguez-Lonebear, D., Rowe, R., Sara, R., Walker, J.D., Anderson, J. and Hudson, M. (2020) ‘The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance’, Data Science Journal, 19(1), p. 43. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2020-043.
Carroll, S.R., Herczog, E., Hudson, M. et al. (2021) Operationalizing the CARE and FAIR Principles for Indigenous data futures. Sci Data 8, 108. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00892-0
Research Data Alliance International Indigenous Data Sovereignty Interest Group. (September 2019). “CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance.” The Global Indigenous Data Alliance. GIDA-global.org