A former United Nations employee is speaking out regarding his concerns about the UN’s internal digital ID program, as well as what it means for digital ID initiatives being rolled out around the world.
“My biggest concern on the internal rollout is that the UN is establishing an extremely risky and invasive technology without transparent consultation with staff. So far there’s no consideration that staff may not consent to this,” says Alexander Ray, a former communications officer at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
He believes the UN is rushing forward with its internal digital ID program without proper protections for employee privacy and security. The UN began rolling out its digital ID for employees in late 2020. The first phase of implementation started in June 2024.
Ray says the way the UN is handling its rollout of digital IDs for employees is an indication of how the organization is approaching digital ID projects around the world.
“The UN’s approach to their internal staff digital ID reflects the same attitudes seen in national-level digital ID roll-outs—inadequate concern for legal liability, disregard for individual informed consent, and overconfidence in the strength of the technology’s privacy and security implications,” Ray told The Last American Vagabond (TLAV).
Starting in 2019, Ray served in various roles with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He was also an independent consultant for the UN between 2021 and 2023 before moving to UNEP, where he worked as a communications officer until December 2025.
Before leaving the UN in December, he emailed several UN officials seeking answers to his questions regarding the digital ID system. He says his concerns were downplayed and, ultimately, ignored.
UN Dismisses Employee Concerns, Ray Says
On Sept. 17, Ray participated in a one-hour webinar called “Innovation Day: From Spark to System – the UN Digital ID Journey,” where members of the UN digital ID program outlined the history and future of the project. He posed questions about privacy, liability, and data security, but none were addressed.
Ray took particular note that the UN Digital ID portal’s Terms of Use explicitly state the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC)—the agency that leads the UN Digital ID program—will not be held responsible for any unintended consequences from employees’ use of the system.
“In no event shall the UNICC or any developer or contributor of the Website (collectively ‘Non-Liable Parties’) be liable to you with respect to use of the Website and/or be liable to you for any direct, indirect, special or consequential damages including, without limitation, damages for loss of goodwill, lost profits, or loss, theft or corruption of your information, the inability to use the Website, device failure or malfunction,” the terms read.
On Sept. 24, he decided to email follow-up questions to the UNICC. He asked whether the UN had conducted any surveys to understand staff attitudes toward and consent for the project. Ray also wondered what would happen to UN staff who choose not to use the digital ID system and how the UN would manage those who do not consent to the program. Finally, he inquired as to what “legal framework” allowed the UN to “collect, store, and access personal biometric, human resources, medical, travel, security, and payroll data” via the digital ID technology.
PERCEPTION RESET 