Seeking Refuge from Biometrics (w/Zara Rahman‪)‬ We Be Imagining

IG + Twitter: @WeBeImaginingSupport Us: On PatreonHost: J. Khadijah Abdurahman and Ilan MandelMusic: Drew Lewis
Who is responsible for safeguarding the biometric data of refugees collected in a humanitarian and mass atrocities context? The canonical justification for collecting biometric data in a humanitarian context is to mitigate the risk of fraud by recipients. However, this claim has been thoroughly debunked including because it assumes fraud is most prevalent among recipients rather than the organizations that operate as intermediaries between donors and aid recipients. What is driving this competition between the UNHCR and the World Food Program (WFP) to create and own the largest multinational biometric database? Zara Rahman joins the WBI show to discuss these questions with a focus on how the Rohingya have resisted digital identification schemes that violate their collective autonomy.
Zara Rahman is a researcher, writer and linguist based in Berlin, Germany, and working internationally. She’s currently the Deputy Director at The Engine Room, an international non-profit organisation strengthening the fight for social justice by supporting civil society to use technology and data in strategic, effective and responsible ways. 
**This episode was recorded April 1, 2021, prior to this report being released, but please note Human Rights Watch (HRW) has documented that the UN shared Rohingya Data Without Informed Consent
Links for the Episode:
Myanmar coup: What is happening and why?Black Lives Matter protesters aren’t being tracked with Covid-19 surveillance tech. Not yetRohingya refugees protest, strike against smart ID cards issued in Bangladesh campsBangladesh cuts access to mobile phone services for the RohingyaWhen technology improves the lives of refugeesBiometrics in the Humanitarian SectorAutomating Inequality | Virginia Eubanks | MacmillanDenied visibility in official data, millions of transgender Indians can't access benefits4 Cultural, Social, and Legal Considerations | Biometric Recognition: Challenges and OpportunitiesLiveCast Episode 13 Infant Identity Management – ID4AfricaHow Our Days Became Numbered: Risk and the Rise of the Statistical Individual, BoukRohingya Refugees Protest, Strike Against Smart ID Cards Issued in Bangladesh CampsBurma: Amend Biased Citizenship LawAP Exclusive 'Leave no Tigrayan': In Ethiopia, an ethnicity is erased By CARA ANNAa fewA fiduciary approach to child data governanceDHS/USCIS/PIA-081 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Information Data ShareTested on millions Non-volunteers (Jordan EyeHood Technology)Use of Biometric Data to Identify Terrorists: Best Practice or Risky Business?Palantir and WFP partner to help transform global humanitarian delivery | World Food ProgrammePalantir's partnership with the UN World Food Programme has humanitarians worried.ID 2020 AgendaIrresponsible Data Risks Registering RohingyaThe Biometric Assemblage: Surveillance, Experimentation, Profit, and the Measuring of Refugee Bodies - Mirca Madianou, 2019Digital payments to refugees A pathway towards financial inclusionBangladesh Will Demand Biometric Data From All SIM Card UsersSharifa Sultana
Zara Recommends Native American DNA — University of Minnesota PressShe Would Be King