Concerns about
sensitive data falling into the hands of the Taliban after they took control of
Afghanistan have rekindled a debate among privacy experts on the ethics of data
collection by aid agencies and multilateral institutions.
اضافة اعلان
As the insurgents
moved into the capital,
Kabul, on Sunday, residents fretted that biometric
databases maintained by aid agencies and security forces could be used to track
and target them.
Privacy experts
have long warned that United Nations and development agencies' collection of
biometric data and mandating of digital identity cards heightens risks to
refugees and other vulnerable groups.
"Not enough
care is taken by multilateral and development aid agencies to understand the
local context — who can use the data, and if it can be used to perpetuate
inequities and discrimination," said Raman Jit Singh Chima of digital
rights group Access Now.
"In Afghanistan's
case it's particularly shocking, as these agencies knew the troubled history of
the country, and should have prepared for a worst-case scenario with lessons
learned in Myanmar and elsewhere," said Chima, a regional policy director.
The
Taliban have seized
US military biometrics devices that contained data such as iris scans and
fingerprints, and biographical information that could help identify Afghans
"who assisted coalition forces", The Intercept reported this week.
Even the national
digital ID, the tazkira, championed by the World Bank since 2018 and required
to access public services and jobs and to vote, can expose vulnerable ethnic
groups, Chima told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The World Bank has
defended the ID, saying "development progress is not possible when a large
share of the population does not officially 'exist'.
Therefore, providing legal
identity for all is critical for development."
Good Intentions
The UNHCR was quick
to embrace biometric technology, first testing an iris-recognition system among
Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar in 2002.
The system —
usually retinal scanning and fingerprints — was rolled out in several other
countries, and used in UNHCR's response to the Syrian refugee crisis.
The UNHCR has said
biometric registration enables more accurate counts and identification of
refugees, ensures more efficient registration and aid delivery, and helps
prevent fraud.
But critics point
to technical challenges, such as spotty connectivity and false facial recognition
matches, and say biometric refugee registers can be misused by host nations who
demand access on security grounds and by unauthorized users.
There is a risk of
"sensitive biometric refugee data being shared with, and used by donor
states in a manner other than one which advances humanitarian aims," said
Katja Lindskov Jacobsen, a security researcher at the University of Copenhagen.
"Amid good
intentions, the use of biometric technology in humanitarian refugee management
may entail various risks for refugee populations," with their data being
accessible without their knowledge or consent, she said.
In June, Human
Rights Watch said the UNHCR had shared information on Rohingya refugees without
their consent with host country Bangladesh, which shared it with Myanmar — the
country they had fled — to verify people for possible repatriation.
The rights group
said UNHCR's data collection practices "were contrary to the agency's own
policies and exposed refugees to further risk."
In response, UNHCR
said in a statement that "specific measures were taken to mitigate
potential risks" in sharing data and that refugees were "expressly
asked whether they gave their consent to have their data shared" with the
two governments.
Disproportionate
risk
Privacy experts
have also long questioned the impacts of collecting biometric data for so-called
counter-terrorism programs from Somalia to Palestine, as mandated by the UN
Security Council.
The United States
introduced biometric systems in Iraq and Afghanistan to distinguish insurgents
from civilians "without prior assessment of its human rights impact and
without the safeguards necessary to prevent its abuse," Privacy
International said in May.
As panicked Kabul
residents attempted to flee this week, the Taliban said they would not seek
retribution against former soldiers and government officials, or contractors
and translators who worked for international forces.
Nevertheless, aid
agencies and government authorities must carefully monitor identity or database
systems and hide or curtail access to them immediately, said Chima.
Fears that the
Taliban could use these data to target activists or people from the previous
government highlights the need for an urgent conversation on the use of
biometric tech in counter-terrorism or for border control, rights activists
say.
"Marginalized
and vulnerable groups are disproportionately at risk, especially racial, ethnic
and religious minorities, refugees, and migrants, and those living in conflict
zones," said Marlena Wisniak, of the European Center for Not-for-Profit
Law.
"Unfortunately,
these negative impacts are not yet fully recognized nor addressed," said
Wisniak, a senior legal consultant.
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