v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 1,610 entries across 24 domains · CC-BY 4.01,610 entries · CC-BY 4.0

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Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)

The right of Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold consent to actions affecting them, their territories, or their resources, where consent is freely given, sought sufficiently in advance, and based on full and accessible information about the proposed activity.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

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Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
A research consortium documents its FPIC process with each participating Indigenous community before commencing data collection.
Is an instance
A community exercises its right to withdraw consent partway through a project, and the research team adjusts accordingly.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
Standard institutional ethics consent forms targeting individual participants do not, on their own, satisfy FPIC at the community level.
Not an instance
Notification of communities about activities already underway is not FPIC, which requires consent in advance.

Editorial commentary

FPIC is articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and is widely recognised in international human rights and data governance frameworks. In research contexts, FPIC requires meaningful engagement with relevant communities before research commences, ongoing communication and the option to withdraw consent, and respect for community decision-making structures. FPIC is a process, not a single event, and is closely connected with cultural protocols, benefit sharing, and CARE-aligned practice.

References

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP, 2007); GIDA CARE Principles (2019).

Also known as

FPIC

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/free-prior-and-informed-consent-fpic" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/free-prior-and-informed-consent-fpic",
  "name": "Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/free-prior-and-informed-consent-fpic",
  "description": "The right of Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold consent to actions affecting them, their territories, or their resources, where consent is freely given, sought sufficiently in advance, and based on full and accessible information about the proposed activity.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/indigenous-data-care#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/free-prior-and-informed-consent-fpic",
  "sameAs": [
    "FPIC"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-05-21T02:22:54",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}

Referenced across the research world

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