Biometric Identity in the Developing World (ContraRISK)

Senior Fellow Alan Gelb talks to Tracey Caldwell of ContraRISK about the role that biometric technology can play in developing countries. Many people in the world’s poorer countries have no official identity, which prevents access to entitlements such as health care, benefits and voting rights. Biometric ID programmes, using technologies such as fingerprint or iris recognition, can help solve this problem, but not all are successful. Alan explains why.