Digital ID and Risk of Statelessness geometry, retina and iris patterns, and voice waves’. 38 The amendment does not, however, specify the purposes for which data collected may be put to use, or other critical aspects of data protection. The system is ‘to create, manage, maintain and operate a national population register as a single source of personal information of all Kenyan citizens and registered foreigners resident in Kenya’. 39 It authorises public officers mandated by the Minister to inspect the register and make extracts therefrom. 40 No further details on the principles or safeguards to be applied in accessing the register exist. NIIMS has been defined as purpose-free, 41 The problem is compounded by the lack of operationalisation of the Data Protection Law, which was enacted in 2019 during the NIIMS case. Despite these risks, a significant number of people turned up for the mass registration drive. Cursory interviews revealed that many registered for fear of missing out on government services. 42 After the mass registration drive for Huduma Namba, the government reported to have registered approximately 38 million people, an extraordinary number considering the estimated population of Kenya (possibly 45–50 million) and the high percentage of the population under the age of six (and exempt from registering). Among those who complied with government calls to register were people from communities at risk of statelessness such as Nubians, border communities and Kenyan Arabs. Many also enrolled their children, hoping that by registering, they would save their children from the hurdles their parents and grandparents overcame to obtain identity documents. The consequences of not having identity documents are so dire that such people readily follow any instructions that promise to resolve their nationality status. Privacy concerns become secondary. SURVEILLANCE Arising from these privacy concerns is the system’s surveillance potential as NIIMS collates all information related to the registration of persons. This function is further enhanced by the printing and collection of all manner of identity documents. 43 The centralisation of the printing and distribution of ID documents intersects with security functions historically attributed to the national identity card. 44 Yet, there are other identity services that are not directly related to security services, but are instead related to social services such as health insurance and social security. 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Registration of Persons Act (n 4) ss 3, 5 as amended by the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (2018) (n 2) 321. The original amendment to these sections also specified ‘Deoxyribonucleic Acid’, but the provision was later expunged by the NIIMS Case (n 5). Registration of Persons Act (n 4) s 9A(2)(a), as amended by the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (n 2) 322. Registration of Persons Act (n 4) s 9A, as amended by the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act (n 2) 322–25. NIIMS Case (n 5) [63]. Joseph Muraya, ‘Fear Drives Kenyans, Foreigners to Register for Huduma Namba 24 Hrs to Deadline’, Capital News (online, 17 May 2019) <https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2019/05/fear-drives-kenyans-foreigners-to-register-forhuduma-namba-24-hrs-to-deadline/>. These are listed in the Registration of Persons Act (n 4) s 9A(2)(d). Kenya’s Identity Ecosystem (Report, Caribou Digital 2019) <https://www.cariboudigital.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Kenyas-IdentityEcosystem.pdf>. 353