In May, Dr. Khalaf al-Rumithi was traveling from Turkey to Jordan with his son. He had a Turkish passport. He was detained after a biometric eye test by authorities at the Oman airport. Rumithi previously faced a trial in 2013 for criticizing the Emirati leadership, after which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. This action of the UAE was also condemned by human rights organizations. Al-Shamsi, director of the Emirates Advocacy Center, says that Emirati authorities arrested Al-Rumithi after scanning his pupils, but it is not known how Jordan got his data. All information may be provided by Emirates. According to human rights lawyers, the deportation and detention of al-Rumithi from Jordan to the Emirates is illegal.

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Use of private information

The American human rights organization Freedom House has said that Rumithi's case shows how private information is being used in the Middle East. According to this organization, oppressive regimes in the Middle East and Central Asia are using modern technology for their own purposes. A person can be easily identified through biometric information. In the 19th century, the police used fingerprints to access the accused and DNA for criminal investigations. Many people are also aware of what biometric authentication is and it involves identification with fingerprints and eyeballs. An example of this is smartphones.

Artificial intelligence and human recognition

Human rights experts seem concerned about artificial intelligence and new technologies. Alla Jakubowski, policy advisor at the European Digital Rights Network, says that the process of identifying humans through new software has grown significantly over the past five years. Human identification software is fast and cheap, but it can also be used to monitor people. Weak data security laws and the use of biometric technology for authentication are risky.

AI Security System is really Risky

Some countries appear to be particularly proactive about biometric authentication. Director of the Middle East Institute, Mohammad Sulaiman, says that the trend of biometric authentication is quite widespread in the Gulf states and almost every Gulf country uses this technology for airports, borders, and immigration. A man was arrested at Dubai Airport, who was wearing a women's burqa, and his face was covered with a niqab. The man was identified based on his walking style and size. Dubai has installed 122 smart doors at the entry and exit terminals for first-class passengers to identify passengers.

Biometric information

Some Gulf countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia take biometric information of citizens for citizenship registration. The governments of Iraq and Yemen have already done this for voter registration. Jakubowski says that any government that collects data on all citizens can easily find out who is where and who is meeting whom through CCTV. It will not only affect human life but it is also highly dangerous.

Legislation related to AI

It is also being discussed in the European Parliament what should be the first law related to AI, and what should be the rules regarding the use of biometric information? Data experts say that the European Parliament has made it clear on technology that the legislation that is being implemented will be for other countries. Taking people's biometric data can be somewhat beneficial in many cases, Jakubowski says, but the data is extremely sensitive. This is not a password, which can be changed after use. Experts have expressed fear that the laws being made related to data privacy will not prove to be effective.

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