2017 ICT4D Conference

Any time data is stored in a database system, especially one that can be accessed over a network, concerns arise around the privacy and protection of the information stored. Identity theft and leakage of sensitive personal information are the most obvious threats, but as the entire Humanitarian sector ramp up their program responses towards CASH delivery, one must become even more concerned with compliance. Data protection regulations continue to evolve, but in general restrictions on technology and service providers are constantly getting tighter.

Whilst there is a great deal of work going on by advisory bodies, financial Institutions and global humanitarian aid agencies, to define standards around, Digital Identity, Personal Identity Information (PII), Know Your Customer (KYC), what role and responsibility should we play in the meantime, to ensure we maintain best practices, before these standards are ratified and adopted? How should we, the aid community, protect sensitive vulnerability information and furthermore, how do we minimize threats against beneficiary fraud and field worker theft of commodities which are distributed, such as CASH?

Technology can go a long way towards helping, however field staff need to be made more aware of the importance in aligning processes and imposing workflow approvals, to reduce these threats.