TECHNOLOGY & HUMAN RIGHTS

A GPS Tracker on Every “Boda Boda”: A Tale of Mass Surveillance in Uganda

The Ugandan government recently announced that GPS trackers would be placed on every vehicle in the country. This is just the latest example of the proliferation of technology-driven mass surveillance, spurred by a national security agenda and the desire to suppress political opposition.

Following the June 2021 assassination attempt on Uganda’s Transport Minister and former army commander, General Katumba Wamala, President Yoweri Museveni suggested mandatory Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking of all private and public vehicles. This includes motorcycle taxis (commonly known as boda bodas) and water vessels. Museveni also suggested collecting and storing the palm prints and DNA of every Ugandan.

Hardly a month later, reports emerged that the government, through the Ministry of Security, had entered into a 10-year secretive contract with a Russian security firm to undertake the installation of GPS trackers in vehicles. Selection of the firm was never subjected to the procurement procedures required by Ugandan law, and a few days after this news broke, it emerged that the Russian firm was facing bankruptcy litigation. The line minister who endorsed the contract subsequently distanced himself from the deal, saying that he was merely enforcing a presidential directive. The government has confirmed that Ugandans will have to pay 20,000 UGX (approximately $6 USD) annually to the Russian firm for the installation of trackers on their vehicles. This controversial move means Ugandans are paying for their own surveillance.
According to 2020 statistics by the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics, a total of 38,182 motor vehicles and 102,273 motor cycles are registered in Uganda. Most of these motorcycles function as boda bodas and are a de facto mode of public transport in Uganda commonly used by people of all social classes. In the capital of Kampala, boda bodas are essential because of their ability to navigate heavy traffic jams. In remote locations where public transport is inaccessible, boda bodas are the only means of transportation for most people, except the elites. While a boda boda motorcycle was allegedly used in the assassination attempt on General Katumba Wamala, those same boda bodas also function as ambulances (including bringing the General to a hospital after the attack) and many other essential purposes.

It should be emphasized that this latest attempt at boda boda mass surveillance is part of a broader effort by the government of Uganda to exert power and control via digital surveillance and thereby limit the full enjoyment of human rights offline and online. One example is the widespread use of indiscriminate drone surveillance. Another is the Cyber Crimes Unit in the Ugandan police which, since 2014, has had overly broad powers to monitor the social media activity of Ugandans. Unwanted Witness has raised concerns about the intrusive powers of this unit, which violate Article 27 of the 1995 Uganda Constitution that guarantees the right to privacy.

And that is not all. In 2018, the Ugandan government contracted the Chinese firm Huawei to install CCTV cameras in all major cities and on all highways, spending over $126 million USD on these cameras and related facial recognition technology. In the absence of any judicial oversight, there are also concerns about backdoor access to this system for illegal facial recognition surveillance on potential targets and the use of this system to stifle all opposition to the regime.

The fears about the use of this CCTV system to violate human rights and stifle dissent came true in November 2020. Following the arrest of two opposition presidential candidates, political protests erupted in Uganda, and this CCTV system was used to crack down on dissent after these protests. Long before these protests, the Wall Street Journal had already reported on how Huawei technicians assisted the Ugandan government to spy on political opponents.

This is taking place in a wider context of attacks on human rights defenders and NGOs. Under the guise of seeking to pre-empt terror threats, the state has instituted cumbersome regulations on nonprofits and granted authorities the power to monitor and interfere in their work. Last year, a number of well-known human rights groups were falsely accused of funding terrorism and had their bank accounts frozen. The latest government clampdown on NGOs resulted in the suspension of the operations of 54 organizations on allegations of non-compliance with registration laws. Uganda’s pervasive surveillance apparatus will be instrumental in these efforts at censoring and silencing human rights organizations, activists, and other forms of dissent.
The intrusive application of digital surveillance harms the right to privacy of Ugandans. Privacy is a fundamental right enshrined in the 1995 Constitution and numerous international human rights treaties and other legal instruments. The right to privacy is also a central pillar of a well-functioning democracy. But in the quest to surveil its population, the Ugandan government has either underplayed or ignored the violation of human rights.

What is especially problematic here is the partial privatization of government surveillance to individual corporations. There is a long and unfortunate track record in Uganda of private corporations evading all human rights accountability for their involvement in surveillance. In 2019, for example, Unwanted Witness wrote a report that faulted a transport hailing app—SafeBoda—for sharing customers’ data with third parties without their consent. With the planned GPS tracking, Ugandan boda boda users will have their privacy eroded further, with the help of the Russian security firm. Driven by a national security agenda and the desire to control and suppress any opposition to the long-running Museveni presidency, digital surveillance is proliferating as Ugandans’ rights to privacy, to freedom of expression, and to freedom of assembly are harmed.

October 13, 2021. Dorothy Mukasa is the Chief Executive Officer of Unwanted Witness, a leading digital rights organization in Uganda. 

TECHNOLOGY & HUMAN RIGHTS

“Killing two birds with one stone?” The Cashless COVID Welfare Payments Aimed at Boosting Consumption

In launching its COVID-19 relief payments scheme, the South Korean government had two goals: providing a safety net for its citizens and boosting consumption for the economy. It therefore provided cashless payments, issuing credit card points rather than cash. However, this had serious implications for the vulnerable.

In May 2020, South Korea’s government distributed its COVID-19 emergency relief payments to all households through cashless channels. Recipients predominantly received points on credit cards rather than cash transfers. From the outset, the government stated explicitly that this universal transfer scheme had two goals: it was not only intended to mitigate the devastating impacts of the pandemic on people’s livelihoods, but also explicitly aimed at simultaneously boosting consumption in the South Korean economy. Providing cash would not necessarily boost consumption as it could be placed in savings accounts. Therefore, credit card points were offered instead to require recipients to spend the relief. But in trying to “kill two birds with one stone” by promoting consumption through the relief program, the government jeopardized the welfare aim of this program.

Once the payouts began, the government boasted that the delivery of the relief funds was timely and efficient. The relief program had been launched based on business agreements with credit card companies for “rapid and smooth” payment, and indeed, it was true that the card-based channel enabled distribution which was much faster than in other countries. Although “offline” applications for the relief program could be made in-person at banks, the scheme was designed around the submission of applications through credit-card companies’ websites or apps. The relief funds were then deposited onto recipients’ credit card or debit card in the form of points—which were separated from normal credit card points—within two days after applying. In September 2021, during the second round of universal relief payments known as the “COVID-19 Win-Win National Relief Fund,” 90% of expected recipients received their payments within 12 days.

Restricting spending to boost spending

However, paying recipients in credit card points meant restricting their access to cash. While low-income households received the relief fund in cash during the first round of COVID-19 relief, they had to apply for the payment in the second round and could only choose among cashless methods which included credit cards and debit cards. To make matters worse, the policy placed constraints on where points could be used, in the name of encouraging consumption and growing the local economy. The points could only be used in designated places, and could not be used to pay for utility bills, repay a mortgage, nor for online shopping. They could not be transferred to others’ bank accounts or withdrawn as cash. Therefore, recipients had no choice but to use their relief funds in certain local restaurants, markets, or clothing stores, etc. If the points had not been used approximately 3-4 months after disbursement, then they were returned to the national treasury. All of these conditions were the outcome of the fact that the policy specifically aimed at boosting consumption.

Jeopardizing the welfare aim

These restrictions had significant repercussions on people in poverty, in two key ways. First, the relief fund failed to fulfill the right to social protection of vulnerable people at risk. As utility bills, telecommunication fees, and even health insurance fees could not be paid with the points, many were left unable to pay for the things they needed to pay for, while much-needed funds remained effectively stranded on the card. What use is a card meant only for restaurants and shops when one is in arrears on utility bills, health insurance fees, and at risk of electricity supply and health insurance benefits being cut off? Those who needed cash immediately sometimes handed their credit cards to other people to use, and then requested payment back in cash below the value. It was also reported that a number of people bought products at stores where relief fund points could be used, and then sold the products at a lower price on the second-hand online market to obtain cash. Although the government warned that it would crack down on such “illegal transactions,” the demand for cash could not be controlled.

Second, the right to housing of vulnerable populations was not sufficiently protected through this scheme. Homeless persons, who needed the most help, were severely affected because the cashless relief funds could not function as a payment method for monthly rent. Homeless people and slice-room dwellers were the group which most strongly agreed that “the COVID-19 relief fund should be distributed in cash” in a survey. Further, given that low-income people spent a higher proportion of their income on rent than those from other social classes, the fact that the relief funds could not be used on rent also significantly affected low-income households. A number of temporary or informal workers who lost their jobs due to the pandemic were on the verge of being pushed into poorer conditions because they could not afford their rent. The relief program could not help these groups cover some of their most urgent expenditures—housing costs—at all.

Boosting consumption can be expected as an indirect effect of government relief funds, but it must not be adopted as a specific goal of such programs. Attempting to achieve this consumption-oriented goal through the relief payments resulted in the scheme’s design imposing limitations on the use of funds, thereby undermining the scheme’s ability to help those in the most extreme need. As the government set boosting consumption as one of the aims of the program and seemingly prioritized it over the welfare aim, the delivery of the payments was devised in an inappropriate way that did not take the most vulnerable into account.

Killing two birds with one stone?

The Korea Development Institute (KDI) found that only about 30% of the first emergency relief funds led to an increase in consumption, while the remaining 70% led to household debt repayment or savings. In the end, it seemed that the cashless relief stipend did not successfully increase consumption, all while it caused the weakening of its social security function.
Such schemes aimed at “killing two birds with one stone” were doomed to fail from the beginning because these two goals come into tension with one another in the program’s design. The consumption aim is likely to harm the welfare aim through pushing for cashless, controlled, and restricted use. The sole purpose of emergency relief funds in a crisis should be to provide assistance for the most vulnerable. Such schemes should be delivered in a way that will best fulfill this aim, they should be focused on providing a safety net, and should be designed from the perspective of right-holders, and not of consumers.

April 19, 2022. Bo Eun Kwon, LLM program, NYU School of Law whose interests include international human rights law, economic and social rights, and digital governance. She has worked at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Paving a Digital Road to Hell? 

A Primer on the Role of the World Bank and Global Networks in Promoting Digital ID

Around the world, governments are enthusiastically adopting digital identification systems. In this 2022 report, we show how global actors, led by the World Bank, are energetically promoting such systems. They proclaim that digital ID will provide an indispensable foundation for an equitable, inclusive future. But a specific model of digital ID is being promoted—and a growing body of evidence shows that this model of digital ID is linked to large-scale human rights violations. In this report, we argue that, despite undoubted good intentions, this model of digital ID is failing to live up to its promises and may in fact be causing severe harm. As international development actors continue to promote and support digital ID rollouts, there is an urgent need to consider the full implications of these systems and to ensure that digital ID realizes rather than violates human rights.

In this report, we provide a carefully researched primer, as well as a call to action with practical recommendations. We first compile evidence from around the world, providing a rigorous overview of the impacts that digital ID systems have had on human rights across different contexts. We show that the implementation of the dominant model of digital ID is increasingly causing severe and large-scale human rights violations, especially since such systems may exacerbate pre-existing forms of exclusion from public and private services. The use of new technologies may also lead to new forms of harm, including biometric exclusion, discrimination along new cleavages, and the many harms associated with surveillance capitalism. Meanwhile, the promised benefits of such systems have not been convincingly proven. This primer draws on the work of experts and activists working across multiple fields to identify critical concerns and evidentiary gaps within this new development consensus on digital ID.

The report points specifically to the World Bank and its Identification for Development (ID4D) Initiative as playing a central role in the rapid proliferation of a particular model of digital ID, one that is heavily inspired by the Aadhaar system in India. Under this approach to digital ID, the aim is to provide individuals with a ‘transactional’ identity, rather than to engage with questions surrounding legal status and rights. We argue that a driving force behind the widespread and rapid adoption of such systems is a powerful new development consensus, which holds that digital ID can contribute to inclusive and sustainable development—and is even a prerequisite for the realization of human rights. This consensus is packaged and promoted by key global actors like the World Bank, as well as by governments, foundations, vendors and consulting firms. It is contributing to the proliferation of digital ID around the world, all while insufficient attention is paid to risks and necessary safeguards.

The report concludes by arguing for a shift in policy discussions around digital ID, including the need to open new critical conversations around the “Identification for Development Agenda,” and encourage greater discourse around the role of human rights in a digital age. We issue a call to action for civil society actors and human rights stakeholders, with practical suggestions for those in the human rights ecosystem to consider. The report sets out key questions that civil society can ask of governments and international development institutions, and specific asks that can be made—including demanding that processes be slowed down so that sufficient care is taken, and increasing transparency surrounding discussions about digital ID systems, among others—to ensure that human rights are safeguarded in the implementation of digital ID systems.