Data Responsibility on the Front Lines: Protection and Security in Humanitarian Response

Dorothee Klaus, Stevens Le Blond, Massimo Marelli, Nathaniel A.
Raymond Civil society, governmental and private sector partners are
increasingly engaged in and reliant on digital data and ICTs for
the delivery of public services and support to vulnerable
populations. However, emerging and related cyber- and data-reliant
risks threaten the human security and human rights of these
populations, undermining their development potential.   The
proliferation of ICTs among affected populations and humanitarian
and development actors alike exposes critical, unaddressed gaps in
the legal, ethical and technological frameworks that have
traditionally defined and governed humanitarians’ professional
conduct. These gaps are an open secret, as is the lack of
professionalization around data protection and ICT use.
Increasingly, they are a disaster waiting to happen. As evidenced
by the recent security breach of a software platform used by aid
agencies to store the data of vulnerable people, the risk of such
ICT- and data-related disasters is very real and far-reaching in
the humanitarian and development sectors. In the face of these
evermore complex threats, the need for capacity development for
digital security and cyber resilience is increasingly recognized in
the international humanitarian and development communities as
critical. Unfortunately, an effective approach for such capacity
development is lacking.    In this panel discussion
convened by the Signal Program on Human Security and Technology of
the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA), the École polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
(EPFL), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
speakers from a diverse set of backgrounds will explore and debate
the major challenges and opportunities of digital security and
cyber resilience in the 21st century. Through the unique experience
and perspectives of the speakers, the panel will bring theory and
practice together to frame a critical narrative and agenda for
ensuring that ethics and human rights are central to global and
national debates around digital security and cyber resilience.
supported by BMZ