Digital Identity

PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST IN DIGITAL ID SYSTEMS

Digital identification systems are more dangerous than you think. They can undermine people’s privacy, increase surveillance, and push the most vulnerable among us further to the margins. We challenge those promoting these systems to first consider alternative solutions and, when a digital ID system is appropriate, to center human rights in its design and implementation.

The #WhyID global campaign

#WhyID

An open letter to the leaders of international development banks, the United Nations, international aid organisations, funding agencies, and national governments

Resources

Digital ID Systems

Data Protection

Open letter: World Bank and its donors must protect human rights in digital ID systems

Access Now and partners urge the World Bank to immediately stop activities that promote harmful models of digital ID systems.

mitos big ID human rights

Data Protection

Busting Big ID’s myths

Big ID programs threaten our human rights yet are spreading like wildfire around the world. To buck the trend, we need to debunk the myths that propel digital ID systems forward.

Digital ID Systems

Data Protection

Go back to the drawing board: Kenya must scrap unconstitutional Huduma Bill 2021

Civil society organizations are calling on the Kenyan parliament to immediately scrap the unconstitutional Huduma Bill 2021.

Tunisian Biometric ID and Passport

Data Protection

Biometric ID in Tunisia: a threat to privacy and data protection

Authorities in Tunisia have been deliberating over a biometric ID law that bears threats to the right to privacy & other fundamental rights.

Tunisia biometric passports

Privacy

Iris scanning of refugees is disproportionate and dangerous — What’s happening behind IrisGuard’s closed doors?

Refugees should not be required to hand over personal biometric data in exchange for basic needs such as purchasing food. However, iris scan tech is reportedly being used by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) in Jordan.

Digital ID Systems

Digital Identity Systems

The Jamaica NIDS digital identification program: a cautionary tale​​

Lawmakers pushed through the Jamaica NIDS digital ID program without taking enough time to listen to civil society concerns. Here’s what other countries can learn from the flawed process.

Tunisian Biometric ID and Passport

Covid-19

Protocol for exclusion: why COVID-19 vaccine “passports” threaten human rights

As the global COVID-19 vaccine rollout gains momentum, governments are clamoring to implement measures to help the world return to pre-virus normality. This includes exploring digital vaccine certificates — or COVID-19 vaccine “passports”. Current proposals, however, threaten human rights.

What are digital identification systems?

Digital identification or “digital ID” systems are those that use digital technology to establish the identity of an individual. More often than not, they refer to systems that aim to establish the legal identity of a person through processes of data capture, validation, storage, transfer, verification, authentication, and management. This can include different aspects of a person’s legal identity as it pertains to their relationships with authorities, or only a specific aspect of it, such as voting or travel.

Why do they matter?

The deployment of digital identification systems, by their very nature, affects every aspect of human life, including the rights to education, healthcare, work, freedom of movement, and autonomy. The heightened risk of surveillance that digital identification systems entail is rapidly undermining people’s privacy all over the world, and as a consequence, pushing the most vulnerable among us further to the margins of society, deepening existing inequalities, and further harming human rights. Access Now challenges those advancing these systems to first consider alternative solutions and, where ID systems are appropriate, to center human rights in their design and implementation.

Latest Updates

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Data Protection
Data Protection

Manual da Pessoa Vigiada

31 Oct 2024

O Manual da Pessoa Vigiada é um guia para ajudá-lo a navegar no sistema judiciário caso você seja detido injustamente por sistemas biométricos.

Guide
Manual da Pessoa Vigiada
31 Oct 2024
Manual da Pessoa Vigiada
Digital Public Infrastructure
Digital Identity Systems
Digital Identity Systems

A human rights-centered approach to digital public infrastructure

24 Oct 2024

Read Access Now’s recommendations for lawmakers to ensure digital public infrastructure protects human rights.

Guide
A human rights-centered approach to digital public infrastructure
24 Oct 2024
A human rights-centered approach to digital public infrastructure
Big Tech and the risk of Genocide in Gaza
Surveillance
Surveillance

Big Tech and the risk of genocide in Gaza: what are companies doing?

10 Oct 2024

Big Tech is playing a central role in enabling the relentless mass slaughter and destruction unleashed in the war in Gaza.

Post
Big Tech and the risk of genocide in Gaza: what are companies doing?
10 Oct 2024
Big Tech and the risk of genocide in Gaza: what are companies doing?
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Surveillance
Surveillance

Surveilling Europe’s edges: detention centres as a blueprint for mass surveillance

2 Oct 2024

In the third and final part of her blog series, Caterina Rodelli examines how EU migration policies and detention practices on the island of Samos are strengthening the EU’s wider, permanent mass surveillance infrastructure.

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Surveilling Europe’s edges: detention centres as a blueprint for mass surveillance
2 Oct 2024
Surveilling Europe’s edges: detention centres as a blueprint for mass surveillance
Border Surveillance Greece Header
Surveillance
Surveillance

Surveilling Europe’s edges: when research legitimises border violence

25 Sep 2024

In the second part of her blog series, Caterina Rodelli explains how EU-funded research projects on border surveillance are legitimising violent migration policies in Greece.

Post
Surveilling Europe’s edges: when research legitimises border violence
25 Sep 2024
Surveilling Europe’s edges: when research legitimises border violence
Border Surveillance Greece Header
Surveillance
Surveillance

Surveilling Europe’s edges: when digitalisation means dehumanisation

18 Sep 2024

In the first of a three-part blog series, Caterina Rodelli explains how digital surveillance is dehumanising people at Europe’s borders.

Post
Surveilling Europe’s edges: when digitalisation means dehumanisation
18 Sep 2024
Surveilling Europe’s edges: when digitalisation means dehumanisation
2024 Joint civil society statement on cyber and human security
Digital Identity Systems
Digital Identity Systems

Open letter to European Commission: the dangers of age verification proposals to fundamental rights online

16 Sep 2024
Press Release
Open letter to European Commission: the dangers of age verification proposals to fundamental rights online
16 Sep 2024
Open letter to European Commission: the dangers of age verification proposals to fundamental rights online
Open letter on technology-enabled political violence in Venezuela
Digital Identity Systems
Digital Identity Systems

Venezuela: digital id as a tool of oppression

12 Sep 2024
News
Venezuela: digital id as a tool of oppression
Tech Policy Press ↗
12 Sep 2024
Venezuela: digital id as a tool of oppression
Digital Identity
Digital Identity Systems
Digital Identity Systems

Why we need tailored identity systems for our digital world 

11 Sep 2024

Digital identity systems are no silver bullet for social challenges. Here’s why a “minimalist” approach makes sense, while protecting human rights.

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Why we need tailored identity systems for our digital world 
11 Sep 2024
Why we need tailored identity systems for our digital world 
A pathway forward for digital rights by Brett Solomon
Freedom of Expression
Freedom of Expression

A pathway forward for digital rights

18 Jul 2024

Brett Solomon shares insights from 15 years as Access Now Co-founder and Executive Director.

Post
A pathway forward for digital rights
18 Jul 2024
A pathway forward for digital rights
ICC arrest warrants for Israeli leaders put Big Tech on notice
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence

We need digital ceasefires to tackle warfare in the digital age

18 Jul 2024
News
We need digital ceasefires to tackle warfare in the digital age
Context News ↗
18 Jul 2024
We need digital ceasefires to tackle warfare in the digital age
Manual Del Pequeñx Vigiladx Socials
Digital Identity Systems
Digital Identity Systems

Vietnam requires facial recognition for digital payments

4 Jul 2024
News
Vietnam requires facial recognition for digital payments
Nikkei Asia ↗
4 Jul 2024
Vietnam requires facial recognition for digital payments
U.S. CBP One app
Digital Identity Systems
Digital Identity Systems

Acuerdos y tecnologías permiten violaciones a la privacidad de las personas migrantes y en tránsito

17 Jun 2024
News
Acuerdos y tecnologías permiten violaciones a la privacidad de las personas migrantes y en tránsito
Contra Corriente ↗
17 Jun 2024
Acuerdos y tecnologías permiten violaciones a la privacidad de las personas migrantes y en tránsito
Digital Identity Systems
Digital Identity Systems

ICE, CBP sued for details on migrant data sharing agreements

29 May 2024
News
ICE, CBP sued for details on migrant data sharing agreements
Biometric Update ↗
29 May 2024
ICE, CBP sued for details on migrant data sharing agreements
Access Now theme
Freedom of Expression
Freedom of Expression

Access Now Grants: how we supported activists in 2023

28 May 2024

In 2023, Access Now Grants supported activists facing digital threats around the world, from Palestine to Myanmar to Ukraine and beyond.

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Access Now Grants: how we supported activists in 2023
28 May 2024
Access Now Grants: how we supported activists in 2023
Manual Del Pequeñx Vigilado Header
Data Protection
Data Protection

Manual del Pequeñx Vigiladx

25 Mar 2024

El Manual del Pequeñx Vigiladx es una guía para ayudarte a navegar el sistema judicial en caso de sufrir una detención errónea por sistemas biométricos.

Guide
Manual del Pequeñx Vigiladx
25 Mar 2024
Manual del Pequeñx Vigiladx