The Global Indigenous Data Alliance created CARE as a set of principles for Indigenous data governance. These principles are people and purpose oriented, and are designed to reflect the crucial role of data in advancing Indigenous innovation and self-determination. Each letter in CARE represents a different principle.
Collective benefit states that data ecosystems should be designed and function in ways that enable Indigenous peoples to derive benefit from the data. Institutions must actively support and facilitate the use of data by Indigenous communities. This would promote the decision-making power of Indigenous nations by providing them with better understanding of their peoples, territories, and resources.
Authority to control refers to the empowering of Indigenous peoples and communities to determine how Indigenous cultures, land, resources, knowledges, and people are represented and identified within data. Indigenous peoples have the right to access data relevant to their world views, to develop cultural governance protocols for Indigenous data, and to be active leaders in the stewardship of and access to Indigenous data and knowledge.
Those working with Indigenous data have a responsibility to share how the use of the data supports Indigenous self-determination and collective benefit. This responsibility includes providing access to resources to generate Indigenous data, supporting the development of an Indigenous data workforce, and ensuring that the creation, interpretation, and use of data is respectful to Indigenous communities.
Ethics refers to the maintaining of ethical data processes that prioritize the wellbeing and rights of Indigenous peoples across all stages of the data life cycle. Ethical data should strive to minimize current and potential future harm. Data should not stigmatize or portray Indigenous peoples, cultures, or knowledges in terms of deficit.
The CARE principles were created in response to the FAIR principles of the general open data movement. FAIR (which stands for findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) advocates for the increased sharing of data, but does so without recognizing relevant power differentials and historical contexts.
This emphasis on greater open data sharing creates tension with the Indigenous Data Sovereignty movement because Indigenous peoples are asserting control over the application and use of Indigenous data and knowledge for collective benefit. By working in tandem with the FAIR principles, the CARE principles encourage the open data movement to consider both people and purpose in their advocacy and pursuits.
The CARE principles were designed to compliment FAIR, resulting in the slogan #BeFAIRandCARE.