Lex Libertas warns digital ID regulations could create state-controlled surveillance system

PRETORIA – The think tank and advocacy group, Lex Libertas, has submitted formal objections to the Department of Home Affairs’ proposed digital identity regulations, warning that the draft could create a centralised state-controlled infrastructure that could enable surveillance, exclusion and political abuse.

Lex Libertas acknowledges the need to reduce identity fraud and improve service delivery, but warns that the proposed system creates serious risks for liberty, privacy and political abuse. The organisation is particularly concerned that a supposedly voluntary digital identity system could become compulsory in practice for banking, grants, employment verification and access to basic services.

Dr Ernst Roets, executive director of Lex Libertas, said the proposal cannot be viewed in isolation from South Africa’s record of state capture, institutional weakness, centralised control and expressed admiration for abusive regimes.

‘A centralised digital identity system controlled by the Department of Home Affairs would create the infrastructure for surveillance and exclusion. Even if such a system is presented as convenient and voluntary, the risk is that it gradually becomes unavoidable in ordinary life. In the hands of a government with South Africa’s record and ideological convictions, this is not neutral administrative reform. It is a serious threat to basic freedoms,’ Roets said.

Lex Libertas also warns that the draft regulations would concentrate excessive discretionary power in the Department of Home Affairs, and particularly in the Director-General. This would include powers relating to accreditation, technical instructions, data sharing and the suspension of digital credentials, without adequate independent oversight.

The organisation has recommended that the draft regulations be withdrawn in their current form. If any form of digital identity infrastructure is considered in future, Lex Libertas argues that it must be strictly decentralised, place citizens in full control of their own data, prohibit central logging of verifications, and allow for private and community-based alternatives rather than expanding state power.

Lex Libertas encourages members of the public to add their voices to its submission and to oppose the creation of a centralised digital identity system that could be used for surveillance, control or exclusion.

• The written submission is available here.
• Members of the public can add their names here.

Lex Libertas is a think tank and advocacy group working towards a viable political dispensation in South Africa, based on the principles of freedom, decentralisation and self-governance.