Iyer, N. (2021). Digital Identity in Uganda: Case study conducted as part of a ten-country exploration of socio-digital ID systems in parts of Africa<\/i> (Towards the Evaluation of Digital ID Ecosystems in Africa: Findings from Ten Countries) [Case study]. Research ICT Africa (RIA).<\/p>\n
Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n The focus of this report is the Ugandan national digital ID project. As <\/span>governments all over the world attempt to promote the establishment of <\/span>legal identity systems to promote better planning for welfare and service <\/span>delivery, it is important to evaluate the impact of these efforts on human <\/span>rights, democracy, privacy and their economy. <\/span><\/p>\n In the course of preparing this report, we evaluated the legitimate purpose <\/span>behind Uganda\u2019s national digital identity programme and the legal and <\/span>administrative systems put in place to oversee it. The programme is <\/span>administered primarily by the National Identification and Registration <\/span>Authority, which was set up under the Registration of Persons Act in <\/span>2015 to promote the Ugandan government\u2019s plan to improve security and <\/span>welfare planning and delivery. The scheme is also, to a lesser extent, <\/span>regulated by National Information Technology Authority Uganda, under the <\/span>auspices of the Data Protection and Privacy Act of 2019. <\/span><\/p>\n Some of the issues evaluated in the report include the over-collection of <\/span>personal data as part of the registration process and the inadequacy of the <\/span>current data protection safeguards. Our report also revealed that there is a <\/span>high potential for mission creep in the set-up of the system, evidenced by <\/span>the government\u2019s decision to share the collected data with members of the <\/span>police force and private telecommunications businesses. Also of note is the <\/span>alarming prevalence of exclusionary practices against societal minorities <\/span>such as women, the elderly and the economically disadvantaged. It is <\/span>hoped that this evaluation of and recommendations for Uganda\u2019s national <\/span>ID system would be useful to the Ugandan government and will guide and <\/span>provide insight for future policy deliberations<\/span>.<\/p>\n