The Argentinian organization Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC) released last week the report Cuantificando identidades en América Latina, which analyses policies related to the biometric identification and verification technologies implemented in some Latin American countries, with the goal to evaluate the situation of the region and identify tendencies for the future. InternetLab collaborated with the study, providing information for the analysis of the Brazilian case.

From the analysis of the local situations, some of the general observations outlined by the report were that:

– In general, the public policies that intend to implement the use of some kind of biometric data are managed with little or no transparency.

– This is related to the lack of available information so that the technologies and mechanisms used for the collection, analysis, and storage of biometric data are known, as well as the reach of these policies — such as who will have access to this biometric data, or if it can be shared or transferred between different public or private organizations.

– There isn’t yet a juridical framework capable of guaranteeing the adequate treatment of the collected biometric data, both by the State and the private sector.

The complete report is available here [in Spanish].