Indigenous scientists are fighting to protect their data — and their culture
1 min read
Summary
Indigenous scientists are having to rethink how to protect their data following the election of Donald Trump, whose administration is believed to be outspokenly anti-Indigenous and is engaged in a purge of diverse staff and a rollback of policies designed to protect diversity.
As part of a decades-long movement, some Indigenous people are calling for sovereignty over their data, including who has access to it and how it is used.
With the brakes being put on federal programs designed to help Indigenous Americans, scientists are seeking to store their data on foreign-based private servers, with some tech billionaires such as Elon Musk allegedly orchestrating a raid on federal data, while storing the information remains a challenge.
Indigenous data sovereignty is also about protecting culture and autonomy, both of which are under threat, while building relationships and trust between communities and researchers is also key.
With climate change an increasing threat, as well as the public health emergency caused by COVID-19, progress on projects to help Indigenous peoples is urgently needed.