Indigenous data sovereignty in the era of Big Data and Open Data

Indigenous Data Sovereignty, in its proclamation of theright of Indigenous peoples to govern the collection, ownership, and application of data, recognises data as a culturaland economic asset. The impact of data are magnified bythe emergence of Big Data and the associated impetus toopen publicly held data (Open Data). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, families and communities, heavily overrepresented in social disadvantage related data willalso be overrepresented in the application of these newtechnologies. But, in a data landscape Indigenous peoplesremain largely alienated from the use of data and its utilizationwithin the channels of policy power. Existing data infrastructure, and the emerging Open Data infrastructure, neitherrecognise Indigenous agency, worldviews nor considerIndigenous data needs. This is demonstrated in the absence ofany consideration of Indigenous data issues Open Data discussions and publication. So, while the potential benefits of thisdata revolution are trumpeted, our marginalised social, cultural and political location suggest we will not share equallyin these benefits. This paper discusses the unforeseen (andlikely unseen) consequences of the influence Open data andBig Data and discusses how Indigenous Data Sovereignty canmediate risks while providing pathways to collective benefits