Migration identity policy should follow KYC’s example: researcher

Organizations that guarantee migrants’ identities and onboard undocumented and unregistered individuals into public registries should have more policy and legal guidance, according to a new paper that explores the legal and sociological aspects of biometric technology in border settings.

The paper, published in the International Journal of Digital Law and Governance, outlines recommendations on handling identity in migration during complex or “borderline” situations, including refugees, internally displaced people, stateless individuals and nomads. The paper was authored by legal and policy researcher Riccardo Vecellio Segate who attempts to examine technical standards, biometrics and remote digital identity onboarding in borderline contexts as well as the role of organizations that manage identities.

“KYC solutions for remote customer onboarding in the banking sectors are frequently illustrated with technical flowcharts, even within official policy documents,” writes Segate. “The same effort should be made with scenarios of borderline citizenship, where the remote identity onboarding of individuals becomes extremely complex technically and operationally, but also legally, diplomacy-wise, and ‘geopolitically’.”

The research outlines policy recommendations on technical standards for cross-border identity management and for enhancing the trust of organizations that manage identities, also known as “introducers.” These organizations are seen as mediating between undocumented communities and central state administrations.

Segate also cautions against involving private actors in defining policy issues and the selection of technical standards, noting that they often ignore “borderline citizenship” situations or impose financial penalties on migrants experiencing such situations.

“Private entities keep playing an exceedingly problematic standard-setting role for identity applications and beyond, by actively engaging with policymakers and technical bodies towards the negotiation, socialization, and legal ‘hardening’ of standards they will be massively profiting from,” says Segate.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  border security  |  digital identity  |  identity management  |  KYC  |  onboarding