TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Seizing the opportunity to improve Uganda’s national digital ID system
In 2014, Uganda introduced its first national digital ID system. Now, a decade later, as millions of ID cards are set to expire, the Government is planning a significant upgrade of the system and will soon begin a mass enrollment exercise to register all unregistered Ugandans. Given that many exclusions and harms have arisen from the current digital ID system, the Government’s plans to roll out a new system represent a key opportunity to learn from past experiences and ensure that the new system is more inclusive, equitable, and privacy-protecting.
In this document, we raise 5 urgent recommendations that the Government must adopt to put Uganda on the path towards a digital ID system that centers inclusion, equity, privacy, transparency, and accountability. Drawing on research and lessons learned from Uganda’s existing national digital ID system, as well as incorporating lessons from other countries’ experiences and from international best practices, we recommend that the Government should:
- Improve communication and transparency about plans for the new digital ID;
- Proactively facilitate participation, particularly of vulnerable communities and of civil society organizations, in policy and design choices;
- Conduct a comprehensive Human Rights Impact Assessment to identify risks arising from the ID system and the registration process;
- Take steps to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable groups are proactively included in enrollment and renewal processes;
- Put in place concrete plans for a transition period to ensure that no rights are violated as the Government works to introduce new digital components
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list but instead focuses on short-term, actionable recommendations that will help concretely improve the Government’s approach in the immediate term and avoid further entrenching the well-documented problems and weaknesses that have affected the current system.
