The Gates Foundation has been officially designated a major stakeholder in a new global digital ID scheme being rolled out by world governments.
Mastercard and the Gates Foundation have joined forced to launch ‘Community Pass’. All citizens of the world will be required to carry one if they wish to participate in society. The pass will be linked to a social credit score, which will increase or decrease depending on how compliant you are.
Reports say ‘Community Pass’, or ‘Farm Pass’ as its also known, will initially be “a platform for digital IDs aimed at individuals such as business owners and farmers.”
Reclaimthenet.org reports: And wouldn’t you know it, it’s one that happens to focus on African countries.
There’s no lack of ambition here, of course: Mastercard wants to register 15 million people in Africa by 2027. And Asia-Pacific region should not rest on any independence or self-determination laurels, either. Mastercard is after you as well – the same number of people, by the same date, is the stated goal.
In Africa – Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritania – 2.5 million people are aid to be on board, and Ghana and Ethiopia might easily be next, as the global payments behemoth tests the levels of these farmers’ financial desperation.
Ostensibly – for testing comprehensive Digital IDs, for the whole world.
Are you excited? Michael Wiegand, director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, suggests he is.
“It’s time for a new approach to financial inclusion (to) to move beyond basic banking services (…) One of the most exciting advancements in global development is the expansion of financial services.”
Enter “digital public infrastructure (DPI),” as per Wiegand.
“This concept (…) underpins inclusive financial systems. Foundational DPI is based on three core, interoperable components: digital identity (ID), payments and data exchange. In practice, this gives countries and people the ability to digitally verify identities, securely and instantly send and receive money, and safely exchange information.”
