South Africa’s plan to record all babies’ biometrics raises privacy fears

South Africa’s draft identity management policy seeks to capture more biometric data, such as photos of eyes, hands, feet and ears – and possibly DNA collection in the future – to ensure no one lives without ‘a legal record of existence’. — Reuters

JOHANNESBURG: Plans to photograph and fingerprint every baby born in South Africa for a digital register could lead to data leaks and identity theft without robust safeguards, rights experts said on Jan 7.

The Department of Home Affairs’ new draft policy aims to capture detailed biometrics – unique physical traits – of every child born in South Africa and link this data to parents’ identity numbers, which are printed on all ID documents.