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
![Digital ID Systems](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/WhyID-post-header-1-771x386.png)
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.
![mitos big ID human rights](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/bigID-header-771x386.jpg)
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.
![Digital ID Systems](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/WhyID-post-header-1-771x386.png)
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.
![Tunisian Biometric ID and Passport](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/COVID19-vaccine-certificate-post-header-771x386.jpg)
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.
![Tunisia biometric passports](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Digital-ID-post-header-e1561572077344-771x386.jpg)
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 ID Systems](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/WhyID-post-header-1-771x386.png)
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.
![Tunisian Biometric ID and Passport](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/COVID19-vaccine-certificate-post-header-771x386.jpg)
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
![A pathway forward for digital rights by Brett Solomon](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/A-pathway-forward-for-digital-rights-header-1-336x168.jpg)
A pathway forward for digital rights
Brett Solomon shares insights from 15 years as Access Now Co-founder and Executive Director.
![digital ceasefire gaza](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Gaza-Ceasefire-header-1600x800-1-336x168.jpg)
We need digital ceasefires to tackle warfare in the digital age
![Manual Del Pequeñx Vigiladx Socials](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/manual-pequenx-vigiladx-guide-socials-336x168.jpg)
Vietnam requires facial recognition for digital payments
![an illustration with several blue security cameras on a purple and pink textured background.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DHS-injustice-system-on-Salvadoran-immigrants-personal-data-post-header-336x168.jpg)
Acuerdos y tecnologías permiten violaciones a la privacidad de las personas migrantes y en tránsito
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DHS-injustice-system-on-Salvadoran-immigrants-personal-data-post-header-1-336x168.jpg)
ICE, CBP sued for details on migrant data sharing agreements
![Access Now theme](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Access-Now-theme-e1549381801358-336x168.png)
Access Now Grants: how we supported activists in 2023
In 2023, Access Now Grants supported activists facing digital threats around the world, from Palestine to Myanmar to Ukraine and beyond.
![Manual Del Pequeñx Vigilado Header](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/manual-pequenxo-vigiladx-header04-336x168.jpg)
Manual del Pequeñx Vigiladx
El Manual del Pequeñx Vigiladx es una guía para ayudarte a navegar el sistema judicial en caso de sufrir una detención errónea por sistemas biométricos.
![smart borders](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Migrar-Sin-Vigilancia-featured-header-336x168.jpg)
“Smart borders” and the making of a humanitarian crisis
![Tunisian Biometric ID and Passport](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/COVID19-vaccine-certificate-post-header-336x168.jpg)
Eight years in the making: Tunisia’s controversial Biometric ID and Passport Bills risk rights
On March 6, the Tunisian Parliament officially adopted two controversial bills related to the Biometric ID and Passport.
![Digital Identity Toolkit](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/digital-id-toolkit-guide-header-336x168.jpg)
Vietnam will für neue Ausweise auch DNA-Proben sammeln
![Private tech, humanitarian problems: how to ensure digital transformation does no harm](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Private-tech-humanitarian-mapping-header-336x168.png)
Private tech, humanitarian problems: how to ensure digital transformation does no harm
Our new report, Mapping Humanitarian Tech: exposing protection gaps in digital transformation programmes, examines how humanitarian-tech partnerships impact people and communities at risk.
![Digital Identity Toolkit](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/digital-id-toolkit-guide-header-336x168.jpg)
Tunisia’s biometric ID project back on the table but advocates want data protection guarantees
![Digital Identity Toolkit](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/digital-id-toolkit-guide-header-336x168.jpg)
منظمات المجتمع المدني: المنظومة البيومترية خطر على المواطن والدولة
![Tunisia digitization programs](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Tunisia-digitization-programs-threaten-privacy-of-millions-header-1-336x85.jpg)
الأسئلة المتداولة في ما يخص بطاقة التعريف البيومترية
تقدم هذه الوثيقة إجابات على أهم التساؤلات المتعلقة بمشروع قانون بطاقة التعريف البيومترية ومشروع قانون جواز السفر البيومتري الذي يناقشه مجلس نواب الشعب حاليًا في تونس.
![smart borders](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Migrar-Sin-Vigilancia-featured-header-336x168.jpg)
#MigrarSinVigilancia
#MigrarSinVigilancia es un frente común para resguardar los derechos humanos de las personas migrantes desde la protección de sus datos personales.
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