Mathematics of identity at trial: Digital ID at the constitutional court in Kenya

In September and October 2019, a three judge bench in Kenya heard a case protesting digital ID. The case arose after the state rolled out a mandatory digital ID system, known as Huduma Namba that would be a prerequisite for access to government services. Being a constitutional case, arguments on human rights such as privacy were expected. However, the state framed its case of digital ID as inevitable technological development and those opposed to the advancement as being fearful of technology. To understand whether there were human rights implications with the digital ID, parties had to explain about the technology choices taken, the data practices and parties involved in the project. Hence the court (and public at large) spent a significant amount of time getting to understand multi-modal deduplication. While judgement on the case is yet to be delivered, the case brings to fore the societal implications of technology. It also calls for dialogue between technologists and sociologists in design and execution of projects aimed at low and middle income countries.