Indigenous Data Sovereignty
For Indigenous Peoples, digital infrastructure is not only a question of privacy or technology. It intersects with inherent sovereignty, Land and Water, collective knowledges, governance, economic development, and the authority to determine how Indigenous data are collected, held, interpreted, shared, and used.
From Land to infrastructure to data
Land & Water
Data centers need physical sites, power, transmission, fiber, and—depending on cooling technology—Water. Decisions about development can therefore intersect with Tribal jurisdiction, environmental laws, Water, and responsibilities to place.
Infrastructure
Native Nations should evaluate data centers on their own terms. What is needed, who is impacted, and consider options for self hosting.
Data & Knowledges
Where a server sits does not by itself determine sovereignty over the information inside it. Contracts, jurisdiction, governance, access, collective consent, cybersecurity, and community protocols remain critical.
CARE: people and purpose, not only data
The Global Indigenous Data Alliance developed the CARE Principles to complement data-centered approaches such as FAIR. CARE centers Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics and connects data governance with Indigenous self-determination.
Collective Benefit
Data ecosystems should uphold Indigenous Peoples rights to derive benefit from data and support community-defined goals.
Authority to Control
Indigenous Peoples' rights and interests in Indigenous data must be recognized, including authority in how data are governed.
Responsibility
Those working with Indigenous data have responsibilities to strengthen relationships, capacity, and accountability.
Ethics
Data practices should minimize harm, maximize benefit, and reflect Indigenous rights and well-being.
Native Nations & data centers: sovereignty includes the choice
Data sovereignty is about relationships as much as ownership. Data can carry knowledges about people, communities, Land, Water, culture, and history. Sovereignty asks who has authority over those relationships—and what responsibilities accompany that authority. Every website, cloud drive, AI prompt and streamed file ultimately depends on computers, electricity, cooling, Water, Land, minerals and people. How should we make more optimal choices for past and future generations?
AI adds another sovereignty question
In 2026, the Global Indigenous Data Alliance issued a communiqué specifically applying Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance to artificial intelligence. GIDA emphasizes Indigenous authority over data concerning individuals, families, communities, environments, knowledges, cultures, and languages.
Who controls the Land and resources supporting it? Who controls the infrastructure? Who controls the data? And who determines the responsibilities that accompany each?
Indigenous Peoples and Native Nations are diverse sovereign peoples; no single position on AI, data centers, data governance, or technology represents all Nations or communities.