Kiri West (Ngāti Marutūahu), The University of Auckland
The New Zealand government has indicated a willingness to consider the application of Māori data sovereignty (MDS) in the storage, management and governance of data-sets held by them. To what extent is there alignment between the principles of Māori data sovereignty (as communicated by Te Mana Raraunga) and the government’s current data infrastructure? What are the barriers to the successful implementation of MDS, both from a state perspective, as well as from the perspective of Māori?
This research utilises document analysis, case studies and pūrakau to inform its findings.
There are three case studies in total for this PhD. The first looks at Māori perspectives on trust and automated decision making, the second considers the issue of privacy in the context of covid-19 and the third case study looks at whakapapa data and access. Each case study draws upon existing scholarship to theorise the key concepts (trust, privacy and access), and then analysises key documents at the policy/legislative level to consider the tensions that exist between current data practices and Māori data sovereignty.
Pūrakau have been weaved through the case studies to highlight how intensely personal data practices are and how they have impact at the individual level, as well as community level impacts.