DESIGNING DIGITAL IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNT

Design of digital identification system in developing countries to protect people's privacy,Empower them with greater control over personal data 

There may be no single factor that affects a person’s ability to share in the gains of global development as much as having an official identity.

Identity unlocks formal services as diverse as voting, financial account ownership, loan applications, business registration, land titling, social protection payments, and school enrollment. Robust identity systems can help protect against human trafficking or child marriage. In many ways, the roughly 2.5 Million people who lack official identity are invisible, discounted, and left behind. But the government of Uganda has enrolled digital identification systems to all its citizens.

The government’s investments in identification (ID) systems are often confined to sector silos. ID systems are built in support of a programmatic goal, not as development infrastructure critical for a digital age. This leads to inefficient use of resources and has caused international development actors to miss opportunities to make more sustainable, trans formative technology investments.

The government can take steps now to ensure our investments in digital ID (DID) serve as infrastructure for private sector investment, civic involvement, and economic empowerment. As government work to rationalize our investments in digital ID systems, technology is changing at a rapid pace. Advanced bio metrics, mobile authentication, block chain-backed ID systems, and user-controlled ID will transform the ID landscape. Indeed, they already are. How we address these emerging trends in technology will determine whether ID is an instrument of empowerment and inclusion or surveillance, dis empowerment, and exclusion.

The emerging technologies will expand the options for identifying and authenticating individuals and introduce new actors across the DID value chain. While some emerging trends may offer greater opportunity for inclusion, higher confidence in authentication, or better data security, new technologies and new actors may also change the roles of traditional ID-granting institutions and their relationships with ID-holding individuals. For example, as better-connected users demand more friction less ID-enabled services, governments and companies will need to form new partnerships in an increasingly crowded ID-services space. In addition to today’s major players (mostly governments and banks), we may see more focused “identity companies” for whom ID services are their major business focus. As non-government entities become more important ID issuers, governments may see increasing competition for the provision of authoritative ID.

Based on our analysis of the current DID landscape and emerging trends, we make several recommendations for government. First among them is to shift existing sectorally bound investments to more sustainable, cross-functional ID systems. Bundling project-driven needs together with longer term infrastructure building will help ensure sustained development outcomes in the future. Second, it is essential that we preserve privacy by promoting data protection policies, modeling best practices in our work, and keeping abreast of emerging ID technology developments. Lastly, these are all complex, multi-stakeholder challenges that will hinge on strong partnerships with DID pioneers to harmonize systems and ensure that even the most vulnerable voices are heard. We must commit to working collaboratively to promote the responsible and beneficial development of identity in a digital age.

This  technology is not  new it has existed  for so many years in developed countries.For the case of developing country like Uganda we started using this system of recent , but it has helped the country in terms of privacy, security , education, healthy and in very many aspects of life.

Centralization of personal data makes DID systems a target for malicious actors. Institutions end up bearing the risks of collecting and storing personally identifying information (PII). From an institutional perspective, stores of personal data can be a significant theft liability. The consolidation of information through digital systems amplifies this liability.

Poor security practices can undermine system function in many ways. For example, some policies strongly penalize database owners for breaches of customer data. This can cause institutions to internalize this “data liability.” If their security measures are expensive or burdensome, this can erode institutional efficiency and effectiveness. One company piloting an electronic identity voucher program shared an experience in which efforts to secure data led to storing encrypted files with such limited access that field workers could not access the database to continue enrollment.

 A perceived privacy threat can also hamper system function. People can subvert an untrusted system by opting out or fabricating personal information. For example, Uganda as implementing partners who have developed a referral tracking system for HIV prevention said that absent trust between the field agent and enrollee, individuals provide inaccurate information, which can undermine the ability to accurately track referrals. 

New technologies and trends are bringing distinct opportunities to add value for both individuals and institutional actors. Applications of machine learning and algorithmic analysis may lead to new ways of identifying individuals. Data from mobile phone use, social media participation, and e-commerce can uniquely identify people with greater accuracy. Advances in biometrics may similarly open up new ways of identifying and authenticating people who are currently excluded from or underserved by existing ID systems. At the same time, these advances introduce new concerns related to data privacy, control over data sharing and surveillance.

New technologies will also cast new actors in the roles of ID providers, authenticators, and authorizers. Official ID has traditionally been provided by governments. Increasingly, technology companies will find new ways to store identity information, authenticate, and authorize new services. These innovations can offer efficiency gains, greater transparency, and better security. At the same time, new actors will also limit the visibility and control that government and citizens have previously had over identity authentication and service authorization. As ID-mediated relationships grow more diffuse and complex, trust between people and institutions will play a dominant role Regardless of which new technologies continue to develop and how systems evolve. 

Advances in biometrics: In a biometric ID system, a person’s identity is defined by how an electronic device (a biometric reader) recognizes and parses her physical traits.

Mobile ID: Mobile phones have become an increasingly significant part of identity system infrastructure. Although mobile devices are likely to be part of all the emerging technology trends discussed,

Algorithmic identification: Digital footprints can be analyzed to make inferences about an individual’s identifying characteristics. Rather than the issuing of personal credentials, “algorithmic ID” refers to authenticating identity based on the patterns and unique features of one’s digital footprint. 

The evolution of digital ID systems will be impacted by a variety of factors. Broad contextual factors increased connectivity, a growing digital economy, demographic trends, or overall economic growth are beyond the scope of this study. Mobile authentication platforms do not substitute for a separate identity proofing or enrollment process. They are a more convenient method of authentication for end-users who already have a registered SIM card. They may also add value for institutions and online relying parties by allowing for higher levels of assurance.

Algorithmic IDs can verify identity claims in the absence of official credentials. While predictions of character and characteristics are not a substitute for official ID, they may enable access to services for example education, health, financial needs, security, planning and even for identification purposes that historically required official ID. Like when all systems in the country are digitized, it’s easy and cheap for nationals to access these services in the shortest time, analysis of their online behavior could be the beginning of an accretionary ID that over time gains acceptability for authenticating identity and authorizing services.

The Government and other stake holders can combat DID system fragmentation by providing direction through a more standardized DID decisional framework that is rooted in experience. In coming years, these systems will likely evolve to incorporate emerging and untested technologies like new biometrics, mobile platforms, algorithmic authentication, and increased user control. This changing context will require the government to understand the impact of these digital identification system’s dynamics. Supporting digital identification system to better understand good practices for achieving more infrastructural ID systems both at present and in the future should be a priority for greater efficiency and accountable investments.

Am currently working in an academic institution one of the public university in Uganda that has aimed at transforming the community from its lost glory in particular peace: 

This institution is one of its kind in the northern Uganda, this region was insecure during the Lord Resistance Army being led by Joseph kony, but the government of Uganda under the current president manged to contain and restorer peace in this region as result Gulu university was open.

I work in the library department and the department encourages us to work as a team        

First of all the majority of library staff are professionals who were trained with relevant skills, knowledge, ability, experience to handle all kinds of people with different backgrounds, 

because of the above, we have attracted very many donors, government entities, private donors to succeed in the development of our university and the country as whole  

it's because am one the person who come from developing countries who loves to protect people's privacy and empower them with greater control over their data.

participating in this programme, will enable me to advance digital technological skills, hold the possibility of providing more transparency to the individual, as well as making transactions requiring trust between particular parties, easier. Analogue identification cards can be lost, and sometimes, not very easily replaced without layers of often confusing bureaucracy. Digital systems could be designed in such a way

Surveillance

Creating a digital identification system that is comprehensively used by a particular population might mean gathering a huge amount of data the individuals behaviors, networks, likes and dislikes. 

Power dynamics

In the tech sector, power is already incredibly concentrated on just a few tech giants. The infrastructure upon which an identification system is built also creates many technical, social dependencies, and others

Societal effects

Though digital identification systems might be addressing an easily visible need, there might be other needs or systems at play, and new systems might cause disruption of effective informal systems within communities.