Digital information technology holds tremendous potential for easing human suffering. But it also poses many risks. In countries impacted by conflict, for example, those risks can be a matter of life and death. Humanitarian ‘tech-plomat’ Philippe Stoll decodes plusses and minuses of the humanitarian tech revolution.
In places where conflict or crisis means basic services are scarce, the use of data is saving lives. But protecting people’s physical well-being, experts say, is also about protecting their digital profile in cyberspace.
As humanitarian groups have rushed to embrace new technologies, biometric data such as eye, finger and palm scans have become a common method for humanitarian organizations to track aid during emergencies. But is the humanitarian sector fully ready to protect this most personal form of data?
Data can save lives and humanitarian organizations are mobilizing to improve the way they collect and use it. But are they ready to handle the largely unregulated, ‘wild west’ of the global data market?
Red Cross Red Crescent magazine 
