As SMS Crisis Mapping Goes Mainstream, Providing the Platform Isn’t Enough
Police recruits in South Sudan are trained to provide security for the January 9th referendum, from Flickr user United Nations Photo
Catching some press this week is Sudan's first SMS-powered voting monitor, which is built on a Ushahidi platform and maintained by The Sudan Institute.
From Fast Company:
The model is simple: People text a coded short message to SVM translating into either "violence," "intimidation," or any number of categories--and that information is then verified by SVM's team, published to their site and made public for the world to see in both English and Arabic. Based in the U.S., the group works with local civil society partners on the ground in Sudan who have certified observers able to verify whether the reports are true or not.
With tensions high around a secession referendum scheduled for January 9 in South Sudan, it's good to see technology being put to use to help monitors keep track of irregularities and violence. But it is important to note that several years ago, Sudan’s state-run telecommunications company was accused of deactivating its cell towers before military attacks on villages in Darfur, thereby interrupting service that would allow villagers to warn each other of impending violence. If telecom companies were to shut down cell towers again during the referendum, the Sudan Vote Monitor (and all cellular forms of reporting) would be rendered useless.
The vulnerability is not unique to Sudan. During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, cell phone towers were down, reportedly at the behest of those committing crimes.
Telecom companies also have the ability to identify users to the government of Sudan or other parties, potentially putting at risk those who use the system to report violence or intimidation. As SMS crisis mapping moves into the global mainstream, governments and civil society groups should recognize that it's not enough to provide a crisis mapping platform - telecom companies must also commit to keep cell towers online and secure so civilians can use their phones safely and effectively.
In Sudan, that's where Conflict Risk Network (CRN) comes in. A project of the Genocide Intervention Network, CRN is a network of institutional investors, financial service providers and related stakeholders that calls on corporate actors to fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights and to take steps that support peace and stability in areas affected by genocide and mass atrocities.
On behalf of its members, CRN has reached out to the major telecommunications firms in Sudan, Zain Group and MTN Group, to request that they commit to keeping towers online during the referendum and that the privacy of cell phone users is respected. It remains to be seen whether they will make that commitment.
