The Humanitarian Metadata Problem: “Doing no harm” in the digital era
Resources - Author: Ailidh Callandar, Alexandrine Pirlot de Corbion, Dr Gus Hosein, Dr Tom Fisher, Ed Geraghty, Tina Bouffet / Year: 2018
New technologies continue to present great risks and opportunities for humanitarian action. To ensure that their use does not result in any harm, humanitarian organisations must develop and implement appropriate data protection standards, including robust risk assessments. However, this requires a good understanding of what these technologies are, what...
Read MoreIs biometric technology in social protection programmes illegal or arbitrary? An analysis of privacy and data protection (ESS ─ Working Paper No. 59)
Resources - Author: Magdalena Sepúlveda / Year: 2018
Social protection programmes require processing significant data amounts, including often-sensitive information such as household assets, health status and physical or intellectual disabilities. Increasingly, social protection programmes use unique, intimate biometric-technology data such as fingerprints, iris structure and face topologies. Inextricably linked to the individual body, they are more sensitive...
Read MoreThe Right of Children with HIV to Privacy in Kenya
Legal depository - Country: Kenya / Body: High Court of Kenya / Year: 2016
Summary: This case concerns a directive issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta ordering the collection of data and the preparation of a report pertaining to school-going children, guardians, and expectant and breastfeeding mothers living with HIV. The High Court of Kenya at Nairobi found this action to be in violation...
Read MoreCash at Your Fingertips: Biometric Technology for Transfers in Resource-Rich Countries
Resources - Author: Alan Gelb, Caroline Decker / Year: 2013
Cash transfers are often a good way for developing countries to address economic and social problems. They are less expensive than directly providing goods and services and allow recipients the flexibility to spend on what they need the most, but for many developing countries, the technical requirements for large-scale...
Read MoreIdentification for Development: The Biometrics Revolution
Resources - Author: Alan Gelb, Julia Clark / Year: 2013
This paper surveys 160 cases where biometric identification has been used for economic, political, and social purposes in developing countries. About half of these cases have been supported by donors. Recognizing the need for more rigorous assessments and more open data on performance, the paper draws some conclusions about...
Read MoreAchieving Development at the Cost of The Right to Privacy? The Promise and Peril of New Technologies in Social Protection Programmes.
Expert commentaries - Date: 12 September 2014 / Author: Carly Nyst
Information and communication technologies and social protection In recent years, donors, development agencies and poverty reduction initiatives have increasingly turned towards social protection as an effective tool for addressing extreme poverty and accelerating development in the world’s poorest countries. The term refers to the provision of benefits in...
Read MoreIdentification and biometric technology
The implementation of social protection schemes requires the correct identification of beneficiaries. In a growing number of countries, particularly in developing countries, biometric technology is increasingly used for the identification of beneficiaries of social protection programmes, including through fingerprints, iris and facial recognition. In most developed counties with better...
Read MoreBiometrics Use for Social Protection Programmes in India Risk Violating Human Rights of the Poor
Expert commentaries - Date: 2 May 2014 / Author: Usha Ramanathan
Usha Ramanathan, Independent law researcher on poverty and rights
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