The Inniss Data Nullius Framework: Contesting Vacant Data Claims in Global South Digital Governance

Title: The Inniss Data Nullius Framework: Contesting Vacant Data Claims in Global South Digital Governance

Description: This white paper formally introduces the Inniss Data Nullius Framework, a legal-doctrinal response to the systematic erasure of data sovereignty in the Global South. Drawing on the historical colonial doctrine of terra nullius (land belonging to no one), the framework identifies how contemporary digital infrastructures and legal fictions treat data originating from the Caribbean and Africa as "Data Nullius"—ownerless, jurisdiction-free, and freely appropriable by external actors.

The paper identifies three critical pillars of data vacancy:

1. Legal Fictions: The use of "Choice of Law" clauses and extractive Terms of Service to bypass local jurisdiction.

2. Technical Architectures: The de-contextualization of data for AI training sets and offshore routing.

3. Institutional Silence: The "Execution Gap" between high-level policy ambition and practical enforcement.

By codifying the "Principle of Data Reversion," Dr. Abiola Inniss provides policymakers, regional bodies (CARICOM, CTU), and legal scholars with a structured method for asserting collective authorship and reclaiming the economic value of sovereign data. This document serves as the authoritative conceptual reference for the framework’s implementation in global digital governance and postcolonial statecraft.