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.
#WhyID
An open letter to the leaders of international development banks, the United Nations, international aid organisations, funding agencies, and national governments
Resources
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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
Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador se abstienen de entregar información sobre el tratamiento de datos biométricos de personas migrantes
Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador denegaron información sobre los acuerdos para el tratamiento de datos biométricos de personas migrantes.
Human rights organizations and associations call for the Tunisian government to postpone the launch of digital platform for subsidies compensation
The undersigned organizations and associations call on the Tunisian government to postpone launching a digital platform for subsidies compensation.
Access Now oral statement to the UN Global Digital Compact Informal Consultations with Member States and Stakeholders
Access Now’s Senior UN Advocacy Officer Laura O’Brien delivered an oral statement to the UN Global Digital Compact Informal Consultations with Member States and Stakeholders on Feb 3 2023.
América Latina: Lo mejor y lo peor en derechos digitales durante el 2022
Digital identity: Our five calls to action for the World Bank
For the second year in a row, the World Bank is leaving digital identity programs off the agenda for its annual summit. Here’s why we need urgent action to stop further human rights abuse, exclusion, marginalization, and surveillance.
Stop the EUMigraTool rollout: predictive AI systems have no place in EU migration policies
Access Now and partners call on the ITFlows Consortium to withdraw the EUMigraTool and stop developing technologies that violate fundamental rights.
Open letter to the ITFlows Consortium: stop tech tools for predicting migration that can be repurposed to violate fundamental rights
Through an open letter, Access Now and partners call on the ITFlows Consortium to immediately withdraw the dangerous EUMigraTool.
Exigimos que las personas puedan #MigrarSinVigilancia: ¡No a la recolección e intercambio masivo de datos biométricos de personas migrantes!
UN roundup and delegate guide: digital rights at the United Nations
Our new brief tracks progress on digital rights at the UN, providing recommendations for advancing international norms and standards to safeguard human rights online.
Global Leaders of Digital Human Rights: Marianne Díaz Hernández recognized as international changemaker
Access Now is proud of Marianne Díaz Hernández, #WhyID Campaigner at Access Now, and her recognition as one of Ouano Foundation’s 2022 Global Leaders of Digital Human Rights.
Carta abierta: El Banco Mundial y sus donantes deben proteger los derechos humanos en los sistemas de identificación digital
Organizaciones de la sociedad civil están llamando al Banco Mundial a que cese de apoyar sistemas de identificación digital no verificados.
#WhyID: World Bank and dangerous digital ID systems do not mix
Access Now and partners are calling on the World Bank to stop supporting digital ID systems that enable surveillance, exclusion, and discrimination.
#WhyID: El Banco Mundial y los sistemas de identificación digital peligrosos no se mezclan
Organizaciones de la sociedad civil están llamando al Banco Mundial a que cese de apoyar sistemas de identificación digital no verificados.
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.
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.
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ IMEI အကြောင်း သိကောင်းစရာ – အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး တော်လှန်ရေး၏ အဓိက ကျသည့် ဆက်သွယ်ရေးကို အာဏာသိမ်း စစ်ကောင်စီက ဘယ်လို ဖြတ်တောက်နိုင်မလဲ။
Myanmar’s proposed IMEI rules raise surveillance and connectivity risks. Telco operators must prepare to push back.