COMMENT: On Ethiopia’s Digital ID Bill, Data Privacy, Warts and All

Abstract

Ethiopia has been considering a Digital Identification legislation in the past few years. This comment offers a critical analysis of the legislative proposal with a focus on three aspects of the Bill.  First, it analyzes the extent to which the Draft Digital Identification Proclamation attends to data privacy concerns associated with digital identification systems. Second, it considers the Bill’s approach to the risks of digital exclusion or discrimination that are common in systems of digital identification. Finally, the comment discusses major areas of normative ambiguities that would undermine the effective implementation of the Bill upon its enactment. The submission is that the Bill requires substantial revision before adoption by the legislature.