HAC2 PAIDIT
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PAIDIT: Private Anonymous Identity for Digital Transfers
To serve the 80 million forcibly-displaced people around the globe, direct cash assistance is gaining acceptance. The trouble is that the identity requirements normally attached to digital payments conflict with ICRC’s mandate to serve all people in need neutrally and inclusively. ICRC’s beneficiaries often do not have, or do not want, the ATM cards or mobile wallets normally used to spend or withdraw cash digitally, because issuers would subject them to privacy-invasive identity verification and potential screening against sanctions and counterterrorism watchlists. ICRC’s neutrality and protection standards do not allow programs to obligate beneficiaries to this unwanted exposure to the requirements of local authorities. On top of that, existing solutions increase the risk of data leaks or surveillance induced by the many third parties having access to the data generated in the transactions. The proposed research focuses on the identity, account, and wallet management challenges in the design of a humanitarian cryptocurrency or token intended to address the above problems. The research effort will in particular design and prototype a digital wallet intended to inspire and guide a potential future extension of ICRC’s RedSafe platform to support digital payments. The project’s technical research effort will focus on the challenges of creating digital wallets that are highly usable and privacy-preserving, yet accountable and abuseresistant, while verifying users primarily in terms of personhood rather than identity. For privacy, the wallet will require minimum, and at most self-reported and unverified, identity information for account creation, and will avoid the collection of unencrypted data, or even exposing metadata about these accounts, in any centralized database. For accountability, the system will offer aid workers several privacy-preserving “personhood verification” methods, as alternatives to identity-based KYC, enabling agencies to reach a threshold of confidence in a beneficiary’s legitimacy and perform risk-based due diligence (RBDD).
Credits Main Image: ICRC./ Boris Heger / 10.03.2005/ Chaladidi, Kobi district.
As leader of the EPFL EssentialTech’s Humanitarian Division, Greg works at the interface of research and humanitarian action. He is leading several large-scale partnerships between EPFL and the ICRC (Engineering for Humanitarian Action), the UNHCR (The Geneva Technical Hub) and the Graduate Institute (The Future of Humanitarian Design). He is also developing executive trainings for humanitarian practitioners on the responsible use of technology in humanitarian setting, as well as about cybersecurity in the sector. Prior to working at EssentialTech, he led the Innovation Coordination at MSF (Doctors Without Borders) Switzerland, aimed at harnessing the power of medical, humanitarian and digital innovations to meet the needs of patients and others affected by disasters. He previously worked several years as a manager for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in various regions affected by armed conflicts (Afghanistan, Colombia, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire) and later as Deputy Director for the Antenna Foundation, an NGO that incubates innovative solutions to meet the basic needs of people living in poverty. He is the co-founder and current President of the Board of Watalux SA, a social startup developing innovation for safe water and better hygiene in hospitals, and Board Member of SwissSolidarity, a leading Swiss philanthropic foundation. He holds a PhD in Life Science from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland).
Dr. EmelineDarçot is a project manager at the EssentialTech Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, which harnesses innovation in support of sustainable development,humanitarian action and peace promotion. She is currently coordinating the Engineering Humanitarian Action programme within the Humanitarian Division.
She holds a PhD in Life Science from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). After a PhD and a postdoctoral position in biomedical imaging at the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Emeline joined the EPFL EssentialTech Centre in 2021 as a project coordinator on the Ren’All Care project. She then joined the EPFL Research Office in 2022 as project manager and coordinates since then the Engineering Humanitarian Action programme within the Humanitarian Division of the EssentialTech Centre.
Integrated Settlement Planning