[kictanet] law to start listing of Kenyans? DNA
Alice Munyua
alice at dotafrica.org
Wed Feb 13 05:00:34 EAT 2019
https://blog.mozilla.org/netpolicy/2019/02/08/kenya-government-mandates-dna-linked-national-id-without-data-protection-law/
Kenya Government mandates DNA-linked national ID, without data
protection law
Alice Munyua
February 8, 2019
No responses yet
<https://blog.mozilla.org/netpolicy/2019/02/08/kenya-government-mandates-dna-linked-national-id-without-data-protection-law/#respond>
Last month, the Kenya Parliament passed a seriously concerning amendment
<http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/AmendmentActs/2018/StatuteLawMischellaneousNo18of2018.pdf>
to the country’s national ID law, making Kenya home to the most
privacy-invasive national ID system in the world. The rebranded,
National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) now requires all
Kenyans, immigrants, and refugees to turn over their DNA, GPS
coordinates of their residential address, retina scans, iris pattern,
voice waves, and earlobe geometry before being issued critical
identification documents. NIIMS will consolidate information contained
in other government agency databases and generate a unique
identification number known as Huduma Namba.
It is hard to see how this system comports with the right to privacy
articulated in Article 31 of the Kenyan Constitution. It is deeply
troubling that these amendments passed without public debate, and were
approved even as a data protection bill which would designate DNA and
biometrics as sensitive data is pending.
Before these amendments, in order to issue the National ID Card (ID),
the government only required name, date and place of birth, place of
residence, and postal address. The ID card is a critical document
thatimpacts everyday life,
<https://www.khrc.or.ke/2015-03-04-10-37-01/blog/675-a-call-to-action-to-end-statelessness-in-kenya.html>
without it, an individual cannot vote, purchase property, access higher
education, obtain employment, access credit, or public health, among
other fundamental rights.
Mozilla strongly believes that that no digital ID system should be
implemented without strong privacy and data protection legislation. The
proposed Data Protection Bill of 2018 which Parliament is likely to
consider next month, is a strong and thorough framework that contains
provisions relating to data minimization as well as collection and
purpose limitation. If NIIMS is implemented, it will be in conflict
with these provisions, and more importantly in conflict with Article 31
of the Constitution, which specifically protects the right to privacy.
Proponents
<https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/analysis/ideas/Kenya-needs-unified-identity-registration/4259414-4846478-119h6iqz/index.html>
of NIIMS claim that the system provides a number of benefits, such as
accurate delivery of government services. These arguments also seem to
conflate legal and digital identity. Legal ID used to certify one’s
identity through basic data about one’s personhood (such as your name
and the date and place of your birth) is a commendable goal. It is one
of the United Nations Sustainable DevelopmentGoals 16.9
<https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/?Text=&Goal=16&Target=16.9> that
aims /“to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration
by 2030”/. However, it is important to remember this objective can be
met in several ways. “Digital ID” systems, and especially those that
involve sensitive biometrics or DNA, are not a necessary means of
verifying identity, and in practice raise significant privacy and
security concerns. The choice of whether to opt for a digital ID let
alone a biometric ID therefore should be closely scrutinized by
governments in light of these risks, rather than uncritically accepted
as beneficial.
* *Security Concerns: The centralized nature of NIIMS creates massive
security vulnerabilities. It could become a honeypot for malicious
actors and identity thieves who can exploit other identifying
information linked to stolen biometric data. The amendment is
unclear on how the government will establish and institute strong
security measures required for the protection of such a sensitive
database. If there’s a breach, it’s not as if your DNA or retina can
be reset like a password or token.*
* *Surveillance Concerns: By centralizing a tremendous amount of
sensitive data in a government database, NIIMS creates an
opportunity for mass surveillance by the State. Not only is the
collection of biometrics incredibly invasive, but gathering this
data combined with transaction logs of where ID is used could
substantially reduce anonymity. This is all the more worrying
considering Kenya’s history of**extralegal surveillance and
intelligence sharing*
<https://privacyinternational.org/sites/default/files/2017-10/track_capture_final.pdf>*.*
* *Ethnic Discrimination Concerns: The collection of DNA is
particularly concerning as this information can be used to identify
an individual’s ethnic identity. Given Kenya’s history of
**politicization of ethnic identity*
<https://www.khrc.or.ke/publications/183-ethnicity-and-politicization-in-kenya/file.html>*,
collecting this data in a centralized database like NIIMS could
reproduce and exacerbate patterns of discrimination.*
*The process was not constitutional*
Kenya’s constitution requires public input before any new law can be
adopted. No public discussions were conducted for this amendment. It was
offered for parliamentary debate under “/Miscellaneous/” amendments,
which exempted it from procedures and scrutiny that would have required
introduction as a substantive bill and corresponding public debate. The
Kenyan government must not implement this system without sufficient
public debate and meaningful engagement to determine how such a system
should be implemented if at all.
The proposed law does not provide people with the opportunity to opt in
or out of giving their sensitive and precise data. The Constitution
requires that all Kenyans be granted identification. However, if an
individual were to refuse to turn over their DNA or other sensitive
information to the State, as they should have the right to do, they
could risk not being issued their identity or citizenship documents.
Such a denial would contravene Articles 12, 13, and 14 of the Constitution.
Opting out of this system should not be used to discriminate or exclude
any individual from accessing essential public services and exercising
their fundamental rights.
Individuals must be in full control of their digital identities with the
right to object to processing and use and withdraw consent. These
aspects of control and choice are essential to empowering individuals in
the deployment of their digital identities. Therefore policy and
technical decisions must take into account systems that allow
individuals to identify themselves rather than the system identifying them.
Mozilla urges the government of Kenya to suspend the implementation of
NIIMS and we hope Kenyan members of parliament will act swiftly to pass
the Data Protection Bill of 2018.
On 23/01/2019 00:28, Gideon via kictanet wrote:
> Listers,
>
> Would this be a similar system like the India's Aadhaar which is said
> to be the world's largest biometric ID system? If so what lessons and
> drawbacks could be learned?
>
> Many issues would need to be addressed as a foundamental step, such
> include privacy, ethics, security of the said system, complementarity
> with the existing official databases e.t.c
>
> Regards
> GR
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 22, 2019 at 10:01 PM
> <kictanet-request at lists.kictanet.or.ke
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> 1. Re: law to start listing of Kenyans? DNA (Warigia Bowman)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2019 12:58:59 -0600
> From: Warigia Bowman <warigia at gmail.com <mailto:warigia at gmail.com>>
> To: gertrude matata <gertrudematata at yahoo.com
> <mailto:gertrudematata at yahoo.com>>, KICTAnet ICT Policy
> Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] law to start listing of Kenyans? DNA
> Message-ID:
>
> <CACeY99TvKOX13-RtN1gjCi_sh4AF8jdnEkJTNHD6WMrFR9Pogg at mail.gmail.com
> <mailto:CACeY99TvKOX13-RtN1gjCi_sh4AF8jdnEkJTNHD6WMrFR9Pogg at mail.gmail.com>>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> This is disturbing. I am quite sure that the US government does
> not have
> the right to take DNA samples from citizens.
>
> Biometric data is not the same as DNA, rather it may include
> fingerprints
> and eyescans. This is a move towards a surveillance state.
>
> On Tue, Jan 22, 2019 at 6:24 AM gertrude matata via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
>
> > Dear Listers,
> > The amendment to the Act seems to have ignored Article 31(c) of the
> > Constitution. This being a constitutional issue, there is
> probably a need
> > to subject it to constitutional interpretation on;
> > what was the intention of the article in providing that such
> information
> > should not be unnecessarily required or revealed;
> > Whether such details being availed to persons registry clerks is
> > defeating that intent;
> > and whether the circumstances demand the "unnecessarily"
> revealed bar
> > to be lifted.
> > It is worthy to ponder the situation in terms of whether
> giving
> > such information might not create inborn terror,
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Gertrude
> >
> >
> > GERTRUDE MATATA
> > HILLSIDE APARTMENTS
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> > Mobile:0722-374109/0772327265
> >
> > Go to;
> https://themediatorkenya.wordpress.com/author/themediatorkenya/
> >
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> > On Tuesday, January 22, 2019, 2:14:05 PM GMT+3, Karanja Marigu via
> > kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
> >
> >
> > This is a classical move that also was taken by USA after 911.
> What do we
> > expect next? Marshal law??
> >
> > Terrorism is not a justification to take away our privacy rights and
> > collect data. What they will do with all that data, only God knows.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> >
> > Karanja Marigu,
> >
> > 'Purpose fuels passion'
> >
> >
> > On Tue, 22 Jan 2019 at 09:10, Magdalene Kariuki via kictanet <
> > kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
> >
> > Dear fellow listers,
> >
> > Happy New Year (albeit late).
> >
> > Thank you Grace for sharing this information.
> >
> > Just a few concerns about privacy of persons and the protection
> and use of
> > information.
> >
> > While I appreciate and understand the need for Government to address
> > issues relating to threats to security (assuming that this is
> where the
> > need for such kind of information stems from), what kind of
> guarantees are
> > there that ensure this information is not traded? What kind of data
> > protection mechanisms are in place?
> > or have these concerns already been raised and addressed in the new
> > legislation?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Magdalene
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 21, 2019 at 12:16 PM Grace Bomu via kictanet <
> > kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
> >
> > Full story here
> >
> https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/economy/Uhuru-backs-law-change/3946234-4943254-s1fi2b/index.html
> >
> > Il giorno lun 21 gen 2019 alle ore 14:51 Grace Bomu
> <nmutungu at gmail.com <mailto:nmutungu at gmail.com>>
> > ha scritto:
> >
> > Listers,
> >
> > The government is now free to collect data on Kenyans? DNA and
> physical
> > location of their homes including satellite details during
> registration of
> > persons.
> >
> > This follows President Uhuru Kenyatta?s approval of amendments
> to the
> > Registration of Persons Act that has included the two to the list of
> > requirements needed at the national people?s registry.
> >
> > Adults applying for documents such as IDs will be required to
> provide
> > additional information about their location, including land
> reference
> > number, plot number or house number.
> >
> > The ministry is also seeking to introduce Global Positioning
> System (GPS)
> > coordinates in the registration of persons, enabling the
> tracking of their
> > location via satellite.
> >
> >
> > More here
> >
> > --
> > Grace Mutung'u
> > Skype: gracebomu
> > @Bomu
> > PGP ID : 0x33A3450F
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Grace Mutung'u
> > Skype: gracebomu
> > @Bomu
> > PGP ID : 0x33A3450F
> >
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>
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