What we hold ourselves to
We ask others to show where their figures come from. So we ought to do the same. Here are the principles we hold ourselves to, what we actually do with them, and where we are still searching.
No certificate
We hold no certificate or label, and nobody outside checks what is written here. It is a promise, not a stamp. If you see us fall short, let us know at impact@narrate.works.
The CARE Principles
Data about people is not a raw material you take away. It stays with the people it is about, even after someone has collected it.
Collective benefit
Do the people it is about gain from it themselves?
We account to the rights-holders, not only to whoever pays. So a report should also find its way back to the people it is about.
Authority to control
Do they decide what happens to their data?
Anyone recognisable in an image gives written consent, for that image and that use, and can withdraw it. On this site we measure nothing without your consent, and one button erases what the site knows about you. Personalisation
Responsibility
Do we show how we use the data?
Every figure comes with a source or a calculation you can check. Every measuring point on this site is listed in plain words on a page of its own, with why we measure it.
Ethics
Do their rights and wellbeing come first, from collecting to deleting?
We make no faces, voices or quotes that look like a real person. Names and stories from participants only go into an AI service when they agreed, and only into one that does not learn from them. How long we keep data is set out in our privacy statement. Privacy statement
Where we are still searching. This is where we are still searching. Not every project yet has a report in the language of the people it is about. Nor, often, a set place where they can see it.
Where this comes from
A group of Indigenous networks within the Research Data Alliance wrote the CARE Principles in 2019, together with Indigenous Peoples, researchers and governments. They were written for data about Indigenous Peoples. We borrow the four questions for the data and stories we keep about people.
- The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance. Carroll, S. R. et al., Data Science Journal 19(1), 43, 2020-11-04. Consulted on 21 October 2026.
“The goal is that stewards and other users of Indigenous data will ‘Be FAIR and CARE.’” (Abstract)
Do no harm
Our work lands somewhere. It can ease tensions, but it can also sharpen them. So we first ask what a measurement, a photo or a story could break for the people it is about.
Nobody recognisable where it could hurt
Could this image cause someone trouble?
In debt support, care or shelter nobody can be recognised: we show hands, a back or the place. For children under 16 the parents sign too.
Show it first
Does someone know what we show of them?
Whoever is in an image sees the photo and its caption before we publish. If they say no later, we take it down.
A person stands behind it
Could a machine's mistake hurt someone?
AI may help with writing, translating and summarising. A person reads everything and stands behind it. Without that person we publish nothing, least of all a report. Ethical AI
No trade in data
Does someone else profit from what we know?
We sell no data and show no adverts.
Where we are still searching. We do not yet have a fixed check, done before each project, of what a measurement could harm.
Where this comes from
In 1999 Mary B. Anderson showed how aid in a conflict becomes part of that conflict, even when it means to be neutral. We carry that question into measuring and accounting. Do no harm is also one of our values. Our values
- Do No Harm: How Aid Can Support Peace – Or War. Mary B. Anderson, Lynne Rienner Publishers; CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, 1999. Consulted on 21 October 2026.
“When international assistance is given in the context of a violent conflict, it becomes a part of that context.” (cdacollaborative.org)
What other pages already cover
Some of what we promise is already set out on a page of its own. That is where you will find the details.
- Privacy statement and GDPR
Which data we keep, for how long, and what your rights are.
- Personalisation
Every measuring point on this site, and what the site knows about you now.
- Ethical AI
How we use AI, and where a person keeps the final say.
- Security
How we keep your data safe, and how to report a weakness.
- Our values
The values behind our work, from rigour to doing no harm.