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| Original author(s) | Ben Tairea, Kaye-Maree Dunn and Sam Kaw.[1] |
|---|---|
| Repository | gitlab |
| Written in | JavaScript (Vue.js) |
| Operating system | Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows |
| Platform | Cross-platform (Web platform) |
| License | AGPL |
| Website | ahau |
Ahau is decentralised database software, developed as a way for Māori people to digitally record and collectively store their whakapapa (genealogical history).
It was created by Ben Tairea, Kaye-Maree Dunn and Sam Kaw, as a response to concerns Māori were expressing about the risk of losing privacy and data sovereignty, if the knowledge they hold about their ancestry is submitted to genealogy services controlled by non-Māori.[2] Especially those hosted in datacentres outside the country, under the jurisdiction of governments who are not signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi.
The founders originally intended to use a blockchain as their decentralised database, and Ahau graduated from the Centrality Accelerator program for blockchain startups.[1] But they switched to using the Secure Scuttlebutt (SSB) protocol to create connections between Ahau software running on any computer.[3] Forming a distributed Whānau data platform where the privacy of whakapapa records can be protected, with strong encryption, as they are shared between the computers making up the platform.[4]
- ^ a b Slade, Maria (14 March 2019). "Digital taonga: The ambitious bid to record whakapapa using blockchain". The Spinoff. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "Storing whakapapa online". RNZ. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "Āhau: An indigenous community platform". Earth Defenders Toolkit (in French). Retrieved 11 May 2025.
- ^ "Technology – Mahi Hangarau". Āhau. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
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