Deadline: 21-Apr-22
The Africa-China Reporting Project (ACRP) at the Wits Centre for Journalism in Johannesburg with support from Omidyar Network, and in collaboration with Paradigm Initiative, invites journalists worldwide to submit proposals for reporting grants.
As governments and businesses worldwide innovate and digitize their identification processes, having a digital identity can be increasingly valuable, if not required, for people to obtain healthcare, education, employment, bank services, purchases and trade; and to pay taxes, amass capital, own property, lend money, open businesses, express themselves online and travel.
While digital identity has massive implications for economies and societies, very few people understand how they themselves are digitally identified; how their information is used by businesses, governments, and individuals; what rights they have; what risks they are exposed to; and what safeguards are or could be in place. Journalism and on-the-ground investigations are crucial for advancing public knowledge and understanding of digital identity and to shift thinking beyond government and business objectives by illustrating human experiences.
Funding Information
Successful applicants will be provided with a reporting grant of US$1,000 to investigate issues related to digital identity, surveillance, internet shutdowns, freedom of expression online, access to information, privacy, Internet access, women’s rights online, digital empowerment for underserved communities, inclusive digital access, data privacy, and technology in Africa.
Potential issues to be Investigated
The following themes can guide journalists to identify specific topics for investigating issues around digital identity in the Nigerian/West African context:
- Regional, national and community government-issued IDs (e.g. plans/promises, purposes/rationales, best practices and challenges, public reactions and experiences, lessons for and application in African countries).
- Private sector data practices (e.g. industry approaches to data protection, consent, privacy policies, cyber security, data sharing, Know- Your- Customer requirements, and technology innovations, compliance with regulation, breaches, penalties and positive incentives).
- Governance, regulations, transparency, and accountability (e.g. privacy and data protection laws, CCTV/surveillance laws, standards, codes of conduct, independent oversight at regional or continent-wide levels, grievance processes, procurement processes, litigation, budgets, public engagement, access and representation, data bill of rights, data trusts).
- Technology innovations and start-up companies (e.g. privacy-by-design approach, “reg tech”, the promise of block chain, the implications of biometrics, “adtech”, privacy-protecting tools, encryption, identities traded on the dark web, de-identification, open-source code, the benefits and unintended consequences of how technology is used or consumed, ethical uses of technology and data, social credit scoring algorithms; artificial intelligence to sharpen identification, hacking, locally developed solutions, futuristic technologies not yet on the market that digitally identify people).
- Foreign partnerships and investors (e.g. private companies’ data collection, data localization, African perspectives on such collaborations, technology transfers, adoption of systems first piloted outside of Africa, Chinese firms’ AI-based identification systems drawing on CCTV and government ID databases).
- Development and security agendas and human rights (e.g. data for good, inclusion, discrimination-by-design, IDs for migrants and refugees, citizenship/immigration issues, humanitarian crises, links to poverty alleviation and youth empowerment, African perspectives on the freedoms enabled or put at risk by a digital identity).
- Risks and harms (e.g. use of identity information that results in surveillance, exclusion, manipulation, discrimination, oppression, violence, financial loss and reputation issues, distrust and power imbalances).
- Trends and research (e.g. emerging issues and use cases across communities, the rise of self-asserted IDs, customer preferences, trust in institutions, breaches and identity theft, fraud, technology failure).
- Privacy and user control (e.g. an African perspective on privacy, privacy as a fundamental right/public good vs. fee-based service, consumer rights, the commercialization of our identities, treating African data as an African resource, experiences with data ownership, Africa-based data agents/fiduciaries).
For more information, visit https://paradigmhq.org/callforapplicationsacrp/