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Tech for good

June 22, 2017 | Expert Insights

Two of the biggest tech giants in the world – Microsoft and Accenture – have teamed up to develop a system particularly for the United Nations that will provide legal digital IDs for refugees without any official documentation.

This global ID system will likely provide a huge relief to reported 1.1 billion people currently living across the world who have either been displaced or do not documentation.

Digital ID for refugees

The prototype was unveiled in New York, the UN headquarters during the second summit of ID2020. The summit, public-private consortium, was held with the goal of providing legal identity for everyone by 2030.  The summit was attended by top technological companies to brainstorm and come up with viable ideas to provide unique digital identities to everyone in the planet.

According to the UN, there are about 22.5 million refugees across the world. In order to create this new platform, Microsoft and Accenture combined biometric data and blockchain, which a new form of record-keeping technology.

To successfully create these IDs, biometric data will be collected from a refugee by scanning that person’s iris, fingerprints or their face. This data would be uploaded into aid agency’s servers. Then the blockchain ID network will create a unique identifier. Due to this ID those who cross borders will not only have proof of who they are, they can also show proof that they have arrived from a particular refugee camp.

Threat to privacy?

Blockchain is a distributed database that maintains records about transactions and agreements. This poses a challenge to the privacy of individuals if the information is hacked or misused.

The ID platform developed for the UN is similar to the Aadhaar card programme introduced by the Indian government which provides unique identification to Indian citizens. Now it is becoming essential to link for the Aadhaar card to individual bank accounts, voter IDs, and other services. Any major security breach can compromise the information of millions of Indians and hence poses an inherent threat to privacy.  

Assessment

When a person doesn’t have a government approved identity, they will far lesser opportunities available for them. They will find it hard to access basics like education, health care or even financial services. Such a legal identity could be a way of protecting those who are already marginalized and disenfranchised.

Our assessment there needs to be continuous and ongoing debate surrounding initiatives that might provide security but could infringe on an individual’s privacy. While a digital ID would present a number of advantages to a displaced individual, it could make it easier for agencies to track their movements. And even if foresight is applied to ensure such platforms are secure, there is no guarantee on that front and any breach could prove disastrous to millions part of the system.