Indigenous Data Sovereignty refers to the right of Indigenous Peoples to govern the collection, ownership, and use of data that derives from or affects them, their communities, territories, cultures, and knowledge systems.
This includes:
- Genetic resources and Digital Sequence Information (DSI)
- Ecological and territorial data
- Cultural heritage and language data
- Statistical, administrative, and health records
- Any digital representation of Indigenous life
While data is often considered neutral, its collection and use are deeply embedded in power dynamics. Historically, colonial structures have extracted and exploited Indigenous knowledge without consent, recognition, or benefit-sharing. Today, this continues digitally — often invisibly — through global databases, research networks, and artificial intelligence systems trained on unprotected Indigenous data.
We defend Indigenous Data Sovereignty because it is a matter of:
- Self-determination: Indigenous Peoples have the right to define how their knowledge, identities, and territories are represented, used, and protected.
- Consent: Data involving Indigenous communities must only be accessed, shared, or stored with their Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).
- Justice: The digital world must not reproduce the same extractive patterns of colonization, but instead support reparative, respectful relationships.
- Environmental protection: Data on biodiversity and ecosystems must reflect the traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous communities — and be governed by them to protect both nature and culture.
At Data Goya, we work to raise awareness, build frameworks, and support communities so that Indigenous Peoples are not just subjects of data, but decision-makers in its governance.
References
- Walter, M., & Carroll, S. R. (2020). Indigenous Data Sovereignty, Governance and the Link to Indigenous Policy. In Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Policy (pp. 20). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9780429273957-3
- United Nations. (2024). Pact for the Future. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sotf-pact_for_the_future_adopted.pdf
- United Nations. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Decisions on Digital Sequence Information (DSI) – COP14, COP15, and OEWG meetings. https://www.cbd.int/dsi
- Carroll, S. R., Garba, I., Figueroa-Rodríguez, O. L., et al. (2020). The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance. Data Science Journal, 19(1), 43. https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2020-043
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