Eye for an “I”: Biometric Governance and Datafication in Humanitarian Contexts

Humanitarian organizations are increasingly integrating digital technologies into aid operations, often requiring biometric data collection to register and identify beneficiaries. Deeply contested in humanitarian contexts, biometric technologies are framed as innovative tools for efficiency and accountability while also criticized as surveillance and data-mining systems lacking safeguards. This project examines how researchers and refugees perceive and evaluate the use of biometrics by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme. Drawing on humanitarian agency documents, scholarly discussion, and refugee accounts, this thesis explores the tensions between humanitarian organization narratives, critical researcher perspectives, and the lived experiences of refugees in Jordan and Bangladesh, revealing significant gaps between the promises of digital humanitarian innovation and the realities of consent, control, and extraction experienced by displaced populations.