Argentina’s police were recently accused of infiltrating and spying on demonstrations against the American company Kraft to collect personal information of protesters through a program called “Project X.” Security Minister Nilda Garré has denied the charges but called for an investigation, even as the chief of the national police agency, Héctor Schenone, confirmed the existence of the program in court documents.Biometric systems are never deployed in a vacuum. Argentina's political and economic history over the last thirty years has been tumultuous, to say the least.
Experts say a biometric database would make the identification of protestors much easier.
“Privacy is particularly crucial for our country since throughout our long history of social and political movements, calls for action have often taken to the streets,” says Beatriz Busaniche of Vía Libre, a local foundation that promotes freedom on the Internet. She stressed the importance of anonymity for demonstrators, “especially when they are at odds with the government.’’
Argentina and other Latin American countries are updating their decades-old national ID systems and moving to biometrics without a public debate on the privacy and data-protection implications of these proposals, according to Katitza Rodriguez, the international rights director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that defends digital rights.
Everyone is entitled to an open deliberative process leading to the highest possible degree of consensus and transparency before the implementation of such systems, and accountability afterwards.
Argentinians are entitled to such a process before deciding whether or not the potential rewards outweigh the real risks that such a surveillance system will be compromised or abused.
Identity management is about people.
