How Eric Hardy Navigates Tensions Between Local Tribal Community Needs and Indigenous Data Sovereignty Policy Goals

There are often disconnects between data protection policy and actual practice on the ground, especially when policy established on a regional or international level is intended to meet the needs of local communities. Eric Hardy is no stranger to this reality. In his role at the Labriola National American Indian Data Center, an Indigenous library at Arizona State University, Hardy is in the thick of it, working out the everyday practical ways that Indigenous Data Sovereignty policies intersect with the priorities of the library and its tribal communities – both on campus at ASU and beyond. In this episode of Privacy on the Ground (a follow-up to our previous episode featuring Labriola National American Indian Data Center Director Alex Soto), Hardy shares his insights and approaches to incorporating Indigenous Data Sovereignty into the Labriola’s community outreach and programs, and discusses the tensions that can emerge when communities aim to establish or implement Indigenous Data Sovereignty policy that may work theoretically or on an international level, but conflict with other pressing, local community needs. Podcast photo: Labriola National American Indian Data Center Senior Program Coordinator, Eric Hardy (left) and Student Library Aid Nataani Hanley-Moraga (right).