The Citizen Lab’s Submission to the UN on Universal Birth Registration and the Use of Digital Technologies

Citizen Lab contributors submitted input to the UN OHCHR on universal birth registration and digital technologies—later cited twice in the OHCHR report—arguing that portraying birth registration/certification as a prerequisite for other rights promotes exclusion and abuse. They caution that lack of legal identity is a consequence of systemic abuse rather than its cause and warn that digital ID systems can be covertly repurposed by governments, posing risks to marginalized populations.