Humanitarian organisations are increasingly utilising biometric data. However, we know little about the extent and scope of this practice, as its benefits and risks have attracted all the attention so far. This paper explores the biometric practices of the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations World Food Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, and World Vision International. The study analysed relevant documents published over the past two decades and 17 semi-structured interviews with humanitarian workers conducted between June 2021 and June 2022. The findings reveal that humanitarian organisations use diverse types and functions of biometric data for different services, collaborate with many actors, and employ various data protection measures. Ultimately, challenging the straightforward generalisations about the use of such data, the paper argues that variational applications of biometrics in the humanitarian context require case-by-case analysis, as each instance will likely produce a different outcome.

中文翻译：

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“我知道你喜欢我的手背”：人道组织在国际援助中的生物识别实践

人道主义组织越来越多地利用生物识别数据。然而，我们对这种做法的程度和范围知之甚少，因为迄今为止它的好处和风险已经引起了所有人的关注。本文探讨了联合国难民署、联合国世界粮食计划署、红十字国际委员会、无国界医生组织和世界宣明会国际组织的生物识别实践。该研究分析了过去二十年发表的相关文件以及 2021 年 6 月至 2022 年 6 月期间对人道主义工作者进行的 17 次半结构化访谈。研究结果表明，人道主义组织将不同类型和功能的生物识别数据用于不同的服务，并与许多参与者合作，并采取各种数据保护措施。最终，该论文挑战了有关此类数据使用的直接概括，认为生物识别技术在人道主义背景下的变化应用需要具体情况分析，因为每个实例都可能产生不同的结果。