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Content Type: Examples
In 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Mozambique, the government started implementing the National Response Plan of Social Protection which aims to pay cash transfers to 1,582,179 beneficiaries. These cash transfers are done via mobile phone through the service Mpesa.
Throughout the roll-out of the programme, there have been reports of people being threatened and harassed over the phone by thugs demanding that benefit claimants hand in the phones to which the benefit is linked. It is not…
Content Type: Examples
In 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Mozambique, the government started implementing the National Response Plan of Social Protection which aims to pay cash transfers to 1,582,179 beneficiaries. These cash transfers are done via mobile phone through the service Mpesa.
Since then, there have been reports of people having registration and access difficulties, such as having wrong phone numbers associated with their names, and hence not being able to claim their benefits.
Adding to this,…
Content Type: Examples
Kwenda is a social protection program started in Angola in May 2020 to support people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and it is expected to last for 3 years. The program is backed by 420 million USD funding from the World Bank and has 4 distinct components.
In July 2021 the Angolan government announced that they were in a phase of ‘data validation’, where government teams visit neighbourhoods with ‘systemically generated’ provisional lists of beneficiaries. The government describes these…
Content Type: Long Read
Zimbabwe has a history of state led surveillance that is carried out more for political gain than for the investigation of legitimate criminal activities. During former President Mugabe’s 37 year rule the government used laws and state security structures to carry out targeted surveillance of persons of political interest and more generalised mass surveillance of the population.
Specific laws such as the Interception of Communications Act as well as mandatory SIM-card registration regulations…
Content Type: Long Read
In a previous article, we mapped the influence of the Chinese company Huawei across the world and how their sales of smart city infrastructures are contributing to the reshaping of our public space.
We should be alarmed by some of their product deployments – such as the installation of facial recognition technologies in countries with concerning human rights records. But also the deployments of facial recognition technology in countries without strong data protection laws are as such…
Content Type: Long Read
The smart city market is booming. And with a booming market comes companies that are profiting and reshaping our public space, like the Chinese tech company Huawei.
While the term ‘Smart City’ is a broad one that encompasses many different initiatives, some with little to no impact on our privacy and other rights. Certain issues are nevertheless recurrent: the lack of transparency around public-private partnerships, the absence of consultation, and the appetite for a “tech quick fix…
Content Type: Examples
As a result of the challenges emerging from Covid-19 to disburse financial assistance, the government of Paraguay decided to change its food security programme, Ñangareko, from an in-kind benefit to a bank transfer consisting of a one-off payment of PYG 500,000 (= +/-73USD).
The Ñangareko Programme is aimed at those affected by Covid-19 which are stated to include the most vulnerable, informal workers, persons without a RUC (the unique taxpayer registry number) or social security, and who don’…
Content Type: Examples
A new COVID-19 Cash Transfer Programme for ID Poor Households was launched in June 2020 to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable groups of the population, including the needs of children aged 0-5 years old, persons with disabilities, the elderly, persons living with HIV/AIDS, and those identified as poor (ID Poor 1 and ID Poor 2) through the existing national ID Poor programme.
Those households identified as eligible beneficiaries need to register with an administrator at commune level,…
Content Type: Examples
The Jordanian government implemented at least 8 different social protection measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The successful implementation of rapid response projects across social insurance, social assistance and refugee protection was an incredibly important means of protecting low-wage workers and communities facing vulnerable and precarious situations. Within 6 months of the first Covid-19 cases in Jordan, social security measures were put in place to support an estimated 960,…
Content Type: Examples
In January 2021, the World Bank agreed to loan the Lebanese government $246,000,000 to finance an "emergency social safety net" project in response to Covid-19 and Lebanon's ongoing economic crisis.
As part of the project, the Lebanese Government must provide cash-transfers to approximately 147,000 Lebanese households. To be eligible to receive cash transfers, households must be
* Lebanese,
* assessed as living below the World Bank's "extreme poverty line", and
* belong to "pre-defined…
Content Type: Video
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You can read the report here: https://web.karisma.org.co/useless-and-dangerous-a-critical-exploration-of-covid-applications-and-their-human-rights-impacts-in-colombia/
Content Type: Examples
A welfare benefit being rolled out in Nigerian in response to Covid-19 reportedly relies on highly data-intensive techniques.
The Rapid Response Registration Cash Transfer Project was set up by the Nigerian government to provide support to poor Nigerians located in urban and semi-urban areas that were not receiving any other form of welfare support.
According to statements by the Nigerian vice-president, the Rapid Response Register uses "scientifically validated methods of satellite remote…
Content Type: Examples
A third-party, privately-owned electronic wallet platform is being used to disburse welfare benefits in Honduras.
The Single Voucher is a one-time subsidy delivered through an electronic voucher that can be exchanged for food, medicine and /or medical supplies.
The benefit is disbursed in the form of a voucher that can be used in authorised establishments, namely supermarkets, pharmacies, grocery stores throughout the country. According to a Powerpoint presentation by the WHO and Honduran…
Content Type: Examples
A welfare benefit introduced by the Peruvian government not only relies on unclear eligibility criteria, but has been shown to exclude many.
Peru's Stay at Home bonus targets 2.7 million poor and non-extreme poor households. Those eligible are identified through the National Household Register, which categorises households into different bands. Among other factors, households categorised by the Register as being in poverty are deemed eligible to the benefit. However, the criteria used to…
Content Type: Examples
In 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Mozambique, the government started implementing the National Response Plan of Social Protection which aims to provide cash transfers to 1,582,179 beneficiaries.
The selection of priority areas to enroll people was based on a multimethodological approach using the MultiDimensional Poverty Index mapping that combines social and economic indicators. The index relied on the data gathered in the recent census, as well as high resolution satellite imaginary…
Content Type: Examples
Kwenda is a social protection program started in Angola in May 2020 to support people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and it is expected to last for 3 years. The program counts with 420 million USD funding from the World Bank and has 4 distinct components.
Besides aiding with the effects of the pandemic, the Angolan government additionally sees KWENDA as a way to increase banking and digital inclusion for populations. This digitisation includes the creation of a centralised database under…
Content Type: Long Read
For over 20 years with the start of the first use of ICTs in the 1990s, we have seen a digital revolution in the health sector. The Covid-19 pandemic significantly accelerated the digitalisation of the health sector, and it illustrates how fast this uptake can be and what opportunities can emerge; but also, importantly, the risks that it involves.
As we've said many times before, whilst technologies can be part of the solution to tackle some socio-economic and political challenges facing our…
Content Type: Examples
As a response to the current pandemic, Malawi has set an emergency welfare support programme aiming at delivering cash for a three to four months period to vulnerable households. The International Labour Organization and the World Food Programme have designed a mechanism to select which neighbourhoods most needed support. The mechanism was created based on data analysis, consultations with local councils and satellite data to identify "poverty hot spot." Beneficiaries can contact a call centre…
Content Type: Advocacy
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has developed draft privacy guidance for police agencies' use of FRT, with a view to ensuring any use of FRT "complies with the law, minimizes privacy risks, and respects privacy rights". The Commissioner is undergoing consultation in relation to this guidance.
Privacy International and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association ("CCLA") welcome the Commissioner's efforts to strengthen the framework around police use of facial recognition, and the…
Content Type: Examples
As part of a collaboration with Unicef and the World Bank, the Malagasy government launched Tosika Fameno. Tosika Fameno is an unconditional cash transfer programme aiming to support 189,400 households affected by the pandemic. The benefit aims to address the needs of citizens in vulnerable situations from the town of Antananarivo, Moramanga, Toamasina and Fianarantsoa, where lockdown measures were put in place.
However, the way beneficiaries were chosen could raise questions when it comes to…
Content Type: Examples
The 20 years since the 9/11 attacks have fundamentally changed the way the New York Police Department operates, leading it to use facial recognition software, licence plate readers, and mobile X-ray vans, among other surveillance tools for both detecting and blocking potential terrorist attacks and solving minor crimes. Surveillance drones monitor mass protests, antiterrorism officers interrogate protesters, and the NYPD’s Intelligence Division uses antiterror tactics against gang violence and…
Content Type: Examples
Clashes between police and lockdown protesters have spawned reports of police brutality in Greece. Mobile phone footage of one such protest in March 2021 suggested that the police are using drones to surveil the protests, and some of those remanded have complained that they’ve been beaten and subjected to threats and sexual harassment while in custody. Disinfaux Collective has identified an individual caught on video throwing a petrol bomb as “either a police officer of the DRASI unit… or,under…
Content Type: Examples
The Myanmar military are stopping people in the street, checking through the data on their phones, and taking them to jail if they find suspicious messages or photos. At least 5,100 people were still in jail many months after opposing the February 1, 2021 military takeover. The spontaneous searches also deter individuals from continuing to post on social media or lead them to create new accounts they hope will evade detection, and avoid crowded streets where police or soldiers are likely to be…
Content Type: Examples
July 2021 saw violent protests that left 72 people dead and 1,300 in prison after former president Jacob Zuma was jailed for failing to appear before a constitutional court’s inquiry into corruption during his time in office. In response, the South African government deployed the military onto the streets in the provinces of Gauteng and Kwazulu Natal, and began monitoring social media platforms and tracking those who “are sharing false information and calling for civil disobedience”. President…
Content Type: Examples
The South African government urged social media platforms to trace and remove posts that incite violence, share false information, and call for civil disobedience after a July 2021 series of spiralling protests sparked by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuka. A number of other African countries such as eSwatini, Senegal, Nigeria, Uganda, Niger, and the DRC have also been increasingly using tracking software, internet shutdowns, and social media monitoring during protests and elections.…
Content Type: Examples
Following the largest protests seen on the island in decades, Cuba’s government introduced new social media regulations that make inciting acts that alter public order a crime, and ordered ISPs to shut off access for those who “spread fake news or hurt the image of the state”. Critics believe the new rules are intended to curb dissent, as the protests spread across the island from a small town, where the first protest was convened in an online forum and spread via a Facebook livestream. Deputy…
Content Type: Examples
The global internet monitoring firm NetBlocks finds that Cuba has restricted access to social media and messaging platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as some Telegram servers, on the govt-owned telecom provider ETECSA during the largest protests the country has seen in decades. Access to the streaming services YouTube and Google Video was also limited. The protests focused on rising prices, curbs on civil liberties, and the government’s handling of the pandemic.…
Content Type: Examples
Israel is abandoning its longstanding tactic of raiding Palestinian homes for “intelligence mapping” in favour of digitised surveillance that includes a vast and sophisticated 20-year-old network of CCTV, ANPR, and IP cameras throughout the Old City in East Jerusalem (“Mabat 2000”), automated facial recognition-equipped checkpoints (provided by the domestic company AnyVision) between Israel and the occupied West Bank, and drone surveillance at Palestinian protests. The drones over weekly…
Content Type: Explainer
With more and more connected devices around us, the chance that you've been hit by an update notification is high. But what do these software updates do? How do they actually work, and why are they important?
Hardware and Software
Modern electronic devices require two main parts to function: the hardware and the software. The hardware usually refers to physical electronic pieces inside a device (usually a collection of microchips, logic gates and specialised processing chips, such as those to…