Kenya: High Court suspends biometric ID

The High Court has suspended Kenya’s biometric ID programme until a comprehensive legal framework on digital ID is developed.  This followed a petition by civil society groups and the national human rights institution on grounds that the programme violated the privacy of Kenyans. They also raised concerns that minorities and border communities who did not have primary registration documents required for enrolment into the system would be excluded from accessing government services tied to the system. 

The programme, popularly known as Huduma Namba aims to integrate all identity databases and create a digital master population register. It was established through an amendment to the existing law on national ID. The court also found that collection of GPS and DNA data as proposed in the amendment was unconstitutional.