Understanding OCAP®
Establishing the de facto standard for how First Nations information is collected, protected, used, or shared.
The Standard
OCAP® stands for Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession. These principles represent a set of standards that establish how First Nations data and information will be managed. They are a response to the historical extraction of Indigenous data without consent or benefit to the communities involved.
It is the cornerstone of Indigenous Data Sovereignty, ensuring that communities have the authority to govern the collection and use of their own information.
The History of OCAP®
The principles were first established in 1998 by the National Steering Committee of the First Nations Regional Longitudinal Health Survey (RHS).
OCAP® is now a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC). The trademark was sought to protect the principles from misuse and to ensure that they are interpreted and applied correctly as a unified framework.
The Four Pillars
Literature & Implementation
Collective Governance
Ownership refers to the relationship of a First Nations community to its cultural knowledge, data, and information. A community or group owns information collectively in the same way that an individual owns their personal information.
Strategic Oversight
First Nations, their communities, and representative bodies must control how their information is collected, used, and disclosed. This encompasses all aspects of information management, from initial research planning through to the data's final destruction or storage.
Right to Data
First Nations must have access to information and data about themselves and their communities, regardless of where it is currently held. They also have the right to manage and make decisions regarding who can access their collective information.
Physical Stewardship
While ownership identifies the relationship between a people and their data, possession is the physical control of the data. Possession is a mechanism by which ownership can be asserted and protected in a tangible, technical way.
Why OCAP® is Important to MedeChan
Legitimate Infrastructure
Historically, research and healthcare outcomes for First Nations have been hindered by a lack of community-led data. MedeChan ensures that every Virtual Care Station we deploy is a vessel for legitimate, accountable healthcare delivery.
Technical Sovereignty
By embedding Possession and Control into our tech stack, we empower communities to physically own their health records. We provide the tools; the community maintains the control.
Respectful Engagement
Our organization is Indigenous-owned and led. OCAP® isn't just a requirement for us; it is a worldview that ensures all engagement is respectful, protective, and beneficial to the Nations we serve.