OCAP®
First Nations principles for data governance, self-determination, and stewardship.
- Audience
- First Nations communities, and partners working with First Nations data.
- Unit of analysis
- First Nations data and the relationships around it.
- Lifecycle coverage
- Data lifecycle, embedded in community relationships.
- Outputs
- Stewardship commitments; community-led governance.
- Strengths
- Anchors data governance in self-determination and community authority.
- Cautions
- Not a generic privacy framework. Cannot be applied without engagement with the relevant First Nation(s). Lattice does not produce OCAP® determinations.
- Jurisdictional scope
- First Nations in Canada; partnerships extend internationally.
- Evidentiary weight
- Community-recognized; underwrites Tri-Council research ethics for Indigenous data.
- Cost to adopt
- Variable — driven by community engagement, not by checklist completion.
- Certification path
- Accredited training delivered by FNIGC. Lattice does not certify.
Originated in late 1990s First Nations research ethics work; trademarked by FNIGC. Predates and shapes the broader CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance (2019).
OCAP® is a registered trademark of FNIGC. Use of OCAP® here is for reference; this tool does not substitute for community engagement or accredited training.
- Produce an OCAP® pass, fail, or compliance determination.
- Substitute for engagement with the relevant First Nation(s).
- Substitute for accredited OCAP® training delivered by FNIGC.
- Host or process First Nations data.
OCAP® — Ownership, Control, Access, Possession
Indexed at the structural level. Excerpts are quoted under fair-use; full text is linked, not rehosted.
Principles04
- Ownershipframingdata
Ownership
“A First Nation collectively owns its information, much as an individual owns personal information.”
- Controlframingdatamodeldeploymentmonitoringretired
Control
“First Nations peoples, communities, and representative bodies are within their rights to seek control over all aspects of research and information management processes that impact them.”
- Accessdatadeploymentretired
Access
“First Nations must have access to information and data about themselves and their communities, regardless of where it is currently held.”
- Possessiondatadeploymentretired
Possession
“Physical possession of data is a mechanism for asserting and protecting ownership and control.”
Stewardship prompts03
- Stewardship 1framing
Community engagement before scoping
“Document who in the relevant First Nation(s) has been engaged on this matter, the stage of that engagement, and any agreements in place.”
Editorial note: This is a stewardship prompt curated by Lattice, not an OCAP® requirement per se. It does not produce an OCAP® determination.
- Stewardship 2framingmonitoring
Benefit and risk to community
“Articulate community-defined benefits and risks of the proposed work, and the mechanisms to revisit these as the system evolves.”
- Stewardship 3retired
Repatriation and disposition
“On retirement, what happens to derived data and models? Repatriation, deletion, or community-led archival are options to negotiate up front.”