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Human Rights Watch continues to document the Chinese government’s use of high tech surveillance tools in Xinjiang to target the minority Uyghur population. Big data from a range of sources – including facial recognition, wifi sniffers, security checkpoints, banking and legal records and even health data – is funnelled through the “Integrated Joint Operations Platform” and used to support investigations and arbitrary detentions (Human Rights Watch).
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Staying on China, Apple has come under criticism for agreeing to store cryptographic keys for Chinese iCloud users in China. Until now the keys have been stored in the US, requiring anyone seeking to access them to go through the US legal system. To comply with new Chinese laws, from next month the keys will be stored in a new data centre in China run by a state-owned company. Human rights advocates have expressed concerns that this will make it far easier for Chinese authorities to collect information about users (Reuters).
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The UK’s DFID has announced a four year partnership with GSMA, a global trade body for mobile network operators. The £15.5 million Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation project will “accelerate the delivery of a digital humanitarian future,” although it is not immediately clear how this will be achieved. The most concrete activity of the project outlined so far is in providing funding for other projects working on digital solutions in humanitarian contexts (GSMA, AFP).
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Digital Impact Alliance have released a report on using data from mobile network operators for development and humanitarian purposes. The report outlines a vision of a “shared value proposition” for governments, humanitarians and mobile network operators, arguing that increased collection, sales and use of mobile users’ data can improve humanitarian efforts and enable mobile network operators to access developing markets (DIAL).
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WeRobotics and partner Emprende have been testing drones for medical cargo in the Dominican Republic, including training local students on how to operate the drones. The drones transported patient samples and medicines in two mountainous regions over a 10 day period, during which 31 complete flights were logged. The trial serves as a basis for ongoing research into the use of drones for medical cargo (WeRobotics).
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Solon Ardittis of Eurasylum writes that blockchain technologies could be used to improve oversight of EU spending on migration, including administering the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and EU funds sent to third countries under the EU Partnership Framework. He also puts the case for the use of blockchain for non-financial purposes, such as asylum procedures, detention conditions and tracing missing migrants (Migration Data Portal).
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In a landmark ruling for Pakistan, the Islamabad High Court has declared that shutting down mobile networks is illegal under most circumstances. The Pakistani government has imposed frequent internet shutdowns during protests and periods of political turmoil (once inadvertently blocking Youtube access for most of the rest of the world) and has kept the internet off in FATA regions since 2016 (Access Now).
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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Central Bank of Jordan have announced Mobile Money for Resilience, a program aimed at boosting financial inclusion for low-income Jordanians and Syrian refugees. The five year project will scale up mobile services in both government and humanitarian cash transfer programs (Jordan Times).
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