Kenya’s digital registry drew comparisons to India’s giant biometric program, known as Aadhaar, whose sweeping powers were limited by the Indian Supreme Court in 2018. Each person who registers is supposed to receive a unique identification number called Huduma Namba — or “service number” in Swahili. Civil rights groups, however, said the program risked disenfranchising millions of people who already face systemic challenges getting the documents required to obtain biometric ID cards. The court, however, found that the government took the right steps to introduce the sweeping program, provided the public enough information, and did not coerce people to register. Still, the program “was rushed” and introduced without proper legislation, said Justice Pauline Nyamweya, one of the judges on the panel.

Source: New York Times January 31, 2020 18:00 UTC