Issued by
Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
Published
01 October 2019
presented to
General Assembly at its 74th session
Issued by Special Procedures
Subject
Economic inequality
Symbol Number
A/74/493
Summary
The digital welfare state is either already a reality or emerging in many countries across the globe. In these states, systems of social protection and assistance are increasingly driven by digital data and technologies that are used to automate, predict, identify, surveil, detect, target and punish. In the present report, the irresistible attractions for Governments to move in this direction are acknowledged, but the grave risk of stumbling, zombie-like, into a digital welfare dystopia is highlighted. It is argued that big technology companies (frequently referred to as “big tech”) operate in an almost human rights-free zone, and that this is especially problematic when the private sector is taking a leading role in designing, constructing and even operatin g significant parts of the digital welfare state.
The digital welfare state is either already a reality or emerging in many countries across the globe. In these States, systems of social protection and assistance are increasingly driven by digital data and technologies that are used to automate, predict, identify, surveil, detect, target and punish.
This report builds in part on reports by the Special Rapporteur on his visits to the United States of America in 2017 and the United Kingdom in 2018, in which attention was drawn to the increasing use of digital technologies in social protection systems.
The Special Rapporteur presented this thematic report to the General Assembly at its 74th session in October 2019.
In preparing the present report, the Special Rapporteur consulted representatives of various digital rights groups, leading scholars and other stakeholders, first in a meeting hosted by the Digital Freedom Fund in Berlin in February 2019, and then at a meeting sponsored by the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University, United States, in April 2019.
The Special Rapporteur also invited all interested parties, including, but not limited to, NGOs, activists, academics and other individuals and organisations working on issues related to digital technologies, welfare and human rights, to provide input for the preparation of this report.
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