The CARE principles were developed by a network of Indigenous data sovereignty networks and individuals within the Research Data Alliance in consultation with Indigenous Peoples, scholars, non-profit organizations, and governments.

The principles were established against a background of data inequity and exploitation combined with a lack of consideration of Indigenous People’s rights and interests in data about their communities.

The principles are as follows:

• Collective Benefit - data should support inclusive development and equitable outcomes.

• Authority to Control - Indigenous peoples should have authority to control and govern Indigenous data.

• Responsibility - to nurture respectful relationships and support self-determination and collective benefit.

• Ethics - representation and participation; minimising harm and promoting benefit.

The CARE principles work in tandem with the FAIR principles and add important additional ethical and interpersonal dimensions that reflect the realities of Indigenous Peoples. Users of Indigenous data should take both FAIR and CARE principles into account.

An example of applying CARE principles would be to include Indigenous communities in the co-production of policies and practices which might govern and/or emerge from the research, and which might inform any potential access to the data.  Another example of practicing both CARE and FAIR might entail ensuring that cultural metadata is created and the provenance of the data recorded for any data that has been collected.

Interested in finding out more about the CARE principles?

The following sources may be of interest:

• Global Indigenous Data Alliance

• Carroll, S.R. et al. (2020) ‘The CARE principles for indigenous data governance’, Data Science Journal, 19(1), pp. 1–12.

• Carroll, S.R. et al. (2021) ‘Operationalizing the CARE and FAIR Principles for Indigenous data futures’, Scientific Data, 8, 108.