Digital IDs Make Systemic Bias Worse
Published: 5/Feb/2020
Source: Wired.com
National biometric ID programs from regimes like Kenya’s threaten to cut out—or keep out—millions from society.
By Vivek Maru, Laura Goodwin, Aisha Khagai, and Mustafa Mahmoud
Last week, the Kenyan High Court blocked the country’s new digital ID initiative from moving forward in its current form. Other nations’ judiciaries have taken on similar biometric ID programs—the Indian Supreme Court set limits on the subcontinent’s massive Aadhaar program, which has scanned the irises of over a billion people. But never before has a court halted a digital ID scheme on the grounds that it could exclude a segment of the population.
It’s high time. Kenya is one of many countries (including the Philippines, Nigeria, and Mexico) looking to digitize their national ID systems. The privacy concerns related to digital ID are well known; they were the focus of India’s Supreme Court ruling, for example. Less known is the way these digital systems are often being built, as in Kenya, atop discriminatory regimes.
Read further: https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-digital-ids-make-systemic-bias-worse/