NYU School of Law Warns Digital ID “Paving a Digital Road to Hell”

New York University’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice has issued a chilling warning about the potential dangers to human rights posed by the push for digital identity, writes Derrick Broze in a new report for the Last American Vagabond.

In mid-June, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, a “hub for human rights study” at New York University (NYU) School of Law, issued a 100-page report detailing the growing dangers of a reliance on digital identity around the world. The report, titled Paving a Digital Road to Hell?, examines the role of the World Bank and other international networks which have been promoting the use if digital ID in recent years.

The report notes that the World Bank has been “energetically promoting biometric and other digital ID systems that are increasingly linked to large-scale human rights violations, especially in the Global South.” The researchers warn that digital identity schemes “promoted in the name of development and inclusion, might be achieving neither.” Despite ostensible good intentions on the part of some promoting these systems, they “may well be paving a digital road to hell.”

The press release for the report notes:

“Governments around the world have been investing heavily in digital identification systems, often with biometric components (digital ID). The rapid proliferation of such systems is driven by a new development consensus, packaged and promoted by key global actors like the World Bank, but also by governments, foundations, vendors and consulting firms.“

The report states that many of the digital identity schemes are taking inspiration from the Aadhaar system in India. This specific digital ID model has prioritized digital ID as an “economic identity."

The report also details how the promoters of the new digital/economic identity model often evade “difficult questions” about the legal status and rights of those being registered. In fact, the report finds that the evidence indicates it is the small group of companies and governments who stand to benefit most from these systems.

Source: The Last American Vagabond

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