DESCRIPTION
Across the globe, a growing appetite to deploy and use digital forms of identity relying on biometric authentication and verification continues to be recorded. The World Bank (WB) and the United Nations (UN) assert that foundational BDI systems are critical for development goals and access to legal identity, in furtherance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Digital IDs are therefore being seen as central to these efforts as they can enable the storage of biometric and personal data in digital format that is linked to an individual’s legal identity and facilitate the reliable identification and authentication of an individual’s identity and their convenient access to e-government services.
However, the rapid adoption of biometric and digital identification systems has its drawbacks. The new drive by governments to conduct mass biometric registration of the public using digital formats presents new privacy risks owing to their collection of personal and sensitive data and their storage in centralized databases in the absence of adequate legal and policy frameworks and they also create a risk of discrimination.
In Uganda, collection of biometric data was first introduced in 2001 with the implementation of the Photographic Voter Registration and Identification Systems (PVRIS) project. In 2016, the Electoral Commission adopted the Biometric Voter Verification System (BVVS) with fingerprints.
A new report compiled by the Greater Internet Freedom Project highlights the findings of seven country-level studies in Angola, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe seeking to identify and compare the state of biometrics and digital identity threats, usage, and impact.
The session will discuss the findings on the state of biometrics and digital identity programmes and their impact on independent journalism in Uganda.
Specific Objectives of the session:
- To discuss the key issues, findings and recommendations to NITA (U), the Personal Data Protection Office, Media houses and civil society.
- To underscore the key roles, duties and obligations of the regulatory agencies, CSOs and media houses in the protection of privacy, freedom of expression, and other fundamental human rights.
- To identify key interventions for addressing the ease with which journalists’ personal data is accessed by unauthorized parties.
FORMAT:
Panel Discussion including National Information Technology Authority – Uganda (NITA-U), Personal Data Protection Office, National Identification and Registration of Persons Authority (NIRA), a civil society representative and a media representative.
DURATION: One Hour
CONVENOR: ACME –