A cautionary tale on mass data collection, from Afghanistan
Since the Taliban re-took Afghanistan in 2021, people on the ground have feared that authorities would gain access to databases holding troves of personal information about Afghans, particularly those who worked with the U.S. military or foreign NGOs. Sources with direct knowledge of the digitization initiatives have confirmed to us that this has indeed happened.
Human Rights Watch recently released a report on the role of foreign governments and international agencies in constructing and funding these systems that now put Afghans at risk.
Thousands of Afghans can now expect that everything from their name and birthdate to their home address, family relationships, professional ties, fingerprints and facial data is in the hands of the Taliban.
There is nothing especially unique about the existence of Afghanistan’s digital ID systems. From India to Ghana to Venezuela, such schemes are becoming commonplace around the world, and their purpose isn’t always sinister. The idea is that governments and humanitarian agencies can better serve people if they know who they are and where to find them. Inspired in part by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and driven by the lofty hope that digitization guarantees efficiency, entities like the World Bank, the UN and Western governments often foot the bill for these systems.