Washington, D.C. (October 21, 2019) — Today a group of more than 60 civil society organizations, technologists, and experts from around the world released Why ID: Protecting Our Identity in the Digital Age. The open letter calls on international development agencies and funders, the United Nations, and national governments
to fully evaluate the human rights implications of digital identity programs, to question whether these programs are the
best tool to meet the needs of vulnerable communities, and to provide transparency to civil society and other
stakeholders throughout the process of this research.
“There is much hype around digital identity. International and national authorities should take a step back and consider
the real-life impact that digital identity programs have on their users,” said Naman Aggarwal, Asia Pacific Policy Counsel at Access Now. “Each digital identity proposal must be questioned and
evaluated to check if it benefits the users, empowers their rights, and effectively protects them from potential risks.
The current trend of creating mammoth digital identity systems, with access to most aspects of a person’s life, and
without respect for users’ rights or recourse for harm done, cannot continue.”
Digital identity programs — in particular, forms of official ID that require digital verification using biometrics or
other personally identifying data — have been popping up all around the world. It is often assumed these programs can
effectively empower at-risk individuals by giving them legal identification and access to public services. It is also
assumed that the scalability of the technology is a benefit for all. However, these benefits have yet to be proven with
firm evidence, and without proper safeguards, the digitization of identity has caused very real, and often irreparable, harms.
This is especially true in the most common model of digital ID where data is centralized across many agencies and
services — from public transportation to healthcare to finances — making it possible to track people’s everyday
activities and subject them to discriminatory profiling and surveillance. Centralizing personally identifying data in
this manner also creates a prime target for hackers, putting people’s security at risk.
“One of the most concerning aspects of these programs has been their coercive and exclusionary impact on the most
vulnerable,” said Carolyn Tackett, Global Campaign Strategist at Access Now. “Offline alternatives must be made
available so everyone — including refugees, transgender individuals, and people affected by HIV — can make meaningful
choices about how and where they share their personal data, and to ensure those with limited connectivity are not cut
off from critical services.”
“Building digital identity systems that rely on biometric identifiers such as fingerprints or facial recognition without
first implementing proper data protection frameworks is beyond dangerous — its consequences can be truly irreversible,”
said Guillermo Beltrà, Policy Director at Access Now. “We need to change course immediately, and ensure that only truly
rights-respecting identity programs are rolled out, or otherwise risk directly impacting peoples’ most basic rights and
freedoms.”
The full letter is available here, and will be formally presented today to attendees at the World Bank’s ID4D workshop in Washington, D.C.