--- title: Māori Data Sovereignty description: Explore Māori Data Sovereignty and its vital role in Indigenous technology governance and rights in Aotearoa New Zealand. url: https://www.taiuru.co.nz/maori-data-sovereignty/ markdown_url: https://www.taiuru.co.nz/maori-data-sovereignty.md type: page slug: maori-data-sovereignty author: Karaitiana Taiuru published: 2026-09-15T21:59:41Z modified: 2026-10-17T21:34:24Z language: en-NZ word_count: 1857 tokens: 3095 --- # Māori Data Sovereignty Māori Data Sovereignty is the inherent right of Māori (whānau, hapū, iwi, marae and rōpū Māori) to exercise control over Māori data and Māori data ecosystems. It is grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakaputanga, and given legal definition by the Waitangi Tribunal’s WAI 2522 report. Read our glossary for more AI and Māori Sovereignty terms. This page sets out Dr Karaitiana Taiuru’s definitions, principles, tools and legal foundations for Māori Data Sovereignty, and how they apply to artificial intelligence. Māori Data Sovereignty is a Te Tiriti obligation, not a matter of consultation. Dr Taiuru has written on Māori Data Sovereignty since 2016, gave evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal in the WAI 2522 inquiry that Māori data is a taonga, and has developed principles, licences and datasets that organisations use across Aotearoa New Zealand. What is Māori data? The Waitangi Tribunal’s WAI 2522 report defines Māori data as digital or digitisable information or knowledge that is about or from Māori people, language, culture, resources or environments. Dr Taiuru’s definition (2020) is broader. It includes data in any format or medium that is about, from or produced by Māori, whānau, hapū, iwi or Māori organisations; that describes them or their environments; that has relationships with them or contains Māori content; or that may affect them. Māori data is a living taonga of strategic value to Māori. In tikanga terms, all data has a whakapapa and a mauri. Data about a person carries their mauri, which is why Māori data does not stop being Māori data when it is aggregated, anonymised or moved offshore. Māori data is only ever a loan. Non-Māori cannot own Māori data. They hold it under kaitiakitanga, or they hold it in breach. Dr Karaitiana Taiuru Definition of Māori Data Sovereignty Dr Taiuru’s umbrella definition (2020): Māori Data Sovereignty refers to the inherent rights and interests Māori, whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori organisations have in relation to the creation, collection, access, analysis, interpretation, management, dissemination, re-use, and control of data relating to Māori, whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori organisations as guaranteed in Article II of Te Tiriti/Treaty of Waitangi. Taiuru, K. (2020) The Waitangi Tribunal’s WAI 2522 report frames Māori Data Sovereignty as Māori data governance: the principles, structures, accountability mechanisms, legal instruments and policies through which Māori exercise control over Māori data. Who holds Māori Data Sovereignty? The right sits across the full Māori societal structure, not only with iwi. It was hapū leaders who signed Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga, and many Māori do not know or engage with their iwi. A framework that locates the right only at iwi level understates it. Dr Taiuru therefore defines Māori Data Sovereignty at five levels: Whānau Māori Data Sovereignty Hapū Māori Data Sovereignty Marae/rūnanga Data Sovereignty Rōpū Māori (Māori organisations) Data Sovereignty Iwi Māori Data Sovereignty Māori Data Sovereignty principles Dr Taiuru’s principles work at two levels: six Te Tiriti principles that set the obligations on anyone handling Māori data, and six tikanga principles, each with sub-principles, that describe how those obligations are given effect. Te Tiriti principles of Māori Data Sovereignty Tino Rangatiratanga (authority and self-determination): Māori exercise authority and control over Māori data at every stage of its life cycle. Active Protection (kia mataara): those handling Māori data act to the fullest extent practicable to protect it, including free, prior and informed consent and safeguards against bias and harm. Equity (ōritetanga): data collection, governance and use produce equitable outcomes for Māori. Mana Whakahaere (kaitiaki stewardship): Māori data is not repurposed without permission or in ways that diminish the mana of Māori. Mana Motuhake (autonomy and control): Māori decide what data is collected and which uses are allowed. Tapu and Noa (culturally safe practice): no data practice may be culturally unsafe or breach tapu and noa, especially for images, whakapapa and biological information. Tikanga principles and sub-principles Rangatiratanga (authority): control, jurisdiction (store Māori data in New Zealand wherever possible) and self-determination, including the right to request removal of data that is contrary to tikanga or biased against Māori. Whakapapa (identity): context and provenance recorded in metadata, data disaggregated in ways that serve Māori, and protection against future harm. Whanaungatanga (obligations): individual and collective rights balanced, and intergenerational accountability to the Māori from whom the data derives. Kotahitanga (collective benefit): data ecosystems designed for Māori benefit, a Māori data workforce, and connections with other Indigenous peoples. Manaakitanga (reciprocity): data use that upholds the dignity of Māori, and free, prior and informed consent. Kaitiakitanga (guardianship): Māori data is only ever a loan; tikanga, Te Tiriti, He Whakaputanga and UNDRIP govern its use; and Māori decide who may access it. These principles build on the Māori Data Sovereignty principles first named in Aotearoa in the mid-2010s, developed and future-proofed by Dr Taiuru to recognise tikanga, the full Māori societal structure, and He Whakaputanga, Te Tiriti and UNDRIP. Read the full principles in the Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty → Data residency is not data sovereignty Data residency is where data is physically or virtually stored, for example on servers in New Zealand or offshore. Data sovereignty is who holds authority and control over the data, and which jurisdiction governs it. Māori data hosted in New Zealand can still breach Māori Data Sovereignty if Māori do not govern it. Sovereignty also extends to licences: proprietary software, hardware or service licences that limit Māori access to source code, to Māori data or to its by-products, or that claim intellectual property rights over them, breach Māori Data Sovereignty. Dr Taiuru likens proprietary licensing of Māori data to the confiscation of land and resources during colonisation. Māori Data Sovereignty and artificial intelligence AI depends on data, so Māori Data Sovereignty questions are AI governance questions. Any AI system that uses Māori data, produces Māori data, or makes decisions about Māori must give effect to these principles. Dr Taiuru’s 6 Te Tiriti Based AI Ethical Principles extend Māori Data Sovereignty across the AI life cycle, and his Māori AI Sovereignty Principles extend it to infrastructure, code, workforce and investment. Māori AI → AI governance → The legal foundation He Whakaputanga (1835) and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840): the constitutional foundation guaranteeing tino rangatiratanga to hapū. Article II guarantees Māori authority over their taonga, which includes Māori data. WAI 262, Ko Aotearoa Tēnei (2011): the Māori intellectual property claim and the genesis of modern Māori Data Sovereignty. WAI 2522 (2023): the Waitangi Tribunal’s report on the CPTPP, which provides the primary definitions of Māori data and Māori Data Sovereignty. Te Pou Matakana Ltd v Attorney-General (2021): the High Court recognising collective rights to Māori data. Ellis v R (Supreme Court, 2022): confirming that tikanga was the first law of Aotearoa and continues as part of New Zealand law. Privacy Act 2020, Data and Statistics Act 2022 and Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Act 2023: statutory recognition of Te Tiriti in the data and digital context. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (endorsed by New Zealand in 2010): collective Indigenous rights, including free, prior and informed consent. Māori Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Sovereignty Indigenous Data Sovereignty is the global movement asserting Indigenous peoples’ rights to govern data about their communities. Māori Data Sovereignty is its expression in Aotearoa, but it is not interchangeable with it. It rests on He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Māori societal structure of whānau, hapū, iwi and marae, and a specific body of Waitangi Tribunal findings. Treating the two terms as the same risks removing the Te Tiriti, legal and moral rights that apply to Māori data. Indigenous versus Māori Data Sovereignty → Tools for putting Māori Data Sovereignty into practice Māori Data Ethical Framework (2020): ten values for decisions about Māori data: kaitiakitanga, kāwanatanga, kotahitanga, manaakitanga, Māoritanga, māramatanga, rangatiratanga, tohungatanga, wairuatanga and whanaungatanga. Kaitiakitanga Māori Data Sovereignty Licences: six licences (Māori, iwi, hapū, marae/rūnanga, rōpū Māori and whānau) that can be applied to Māori data. Hapū and marae datasets: open datasets so that systems can record hapū and marae affiliation, not just iwi. Commitment statements: example public statements organisations can adopt to commit to Te Tiriti, UNDRIP and Māori Data Sovereignty. Māori Data Sovereignty Statement: a practical statement describing Māori data, Māori Data Sovereignty and Māori governance. Māori Data Governance Report: research into the state of Māori Data Sovereignty and Māori data governance in New Zealand. Questions every organisation should ask What Māori data do we collect, hold, use or generate, including data that is aggregated or anonymised? Which whānau, hapū, iwi, marae or rōpū Māori have authority over that data, and have they been involved as decision-makers rather than consultees? Where is the data stored and processed, and under whose jurisdiction? Do our software, cloud or AI licences give a vendor rights over Māori data or its by-products? Is Māori data being used to train AI models, and was free, prior and informed consent given? Can Māori ask for data to be corrected, removed or returned, and what happens to it when a system is retired? Māori Data Sovereignty FAQ What is Māori Data Sovereignty? Māori Data Sovereignty is the inherent right of Māori (whānau, hapū, iwi, marae and rōpū Māori) to exercise control over Māori data and Māori data ecosystems, including how it is created, collected, accessed, analysed, interpreted, managed, shared, reused and controlled. It is guaranteed by Article II of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. What is Māori data? The Waitangi Tribunal’s WAI 2522 report defines Māori data as digital or digitisable information or knowledge that is about or from Māori people, language, culture, resources or environments. Dr Karaitiana Taiuru’s broader definition also includes data that has relationships with Māori, contains Māori content, or may affect Māori. Is anonymised Māori data still Māori data? Yes. In tikanga Māori, data about a person carries their mauri and whakapapa. Anonymising, aggregating or moving data offshore does not remove its status as a taonga or the obligation to protect it. Does storing data in New Zealand meet Māori Data Sovereignty? No. Storing data in New Zealand is data residency. Māori Data Sovereignty requires Māori authority over who can access the data, how it is used, whether it trains AI models, and who holds rights over it under software and service licences. Is iwi engagement enough for Māori Data Sovereignty? Not on its own. Hapū leaders signed Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga, and many Māori do not engage with their iwi. Māori Data Sovereignty rights are held by whānau, hapū, marae and rōpū Māori as well as iwi. What is the difference between Māori and Indigenous Data Sovereignty? Indigenous Data Sovereignty is the global movement. Māori Data Sovereignty is its expression in Aotearoa, grounded specifically in He Whakaputanga, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Māori societal structures and Waitangi Tribunal findings such as WAI 262 and WAI 2522. Related Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty → Original frameworks → Biometrics → All Māori Data Sovereignty articles → Contact Taiuru & Associates → Suggested citation Taiuru, K. (2026). Māori Data Sovereignty. Taiuru & Associates Ltd. https://www.taiuru.co.nz/maori-data-sovereignty/ Last updated: 8 October 2026. This page is provided for research, governance and educational purposes and is not legal advice.