Self-Sovereignty for Refugees? The Contested Horizons of Digital Identity
Open accessAbstract
This paper critically examines the implications of ‘self-sovereign identity’ (SSI) for border politics and migration management. SSI refers to user-controlled, decentralised forms of digital identification. Closely linked with the distributed ledger technology blockchain, SSI is presented by advocates as a tool to empower marginalised groups, including refugees. Among other benefits, some claim that SSI removes the need for powerful, centralised institutional structures by giving individuals control and ownership of their identity information. However, through ethnographic research in an international aid organisation, I find that SSI is an embryonic technology with indeterminate properties and benefits. I identify a series of competing logics in the debates around SSI’s emancipatory potential, which relate to four issues: (i) the neutrality of the technology, (ii) the capacities of refugees, (iii) global governance and the nation state, and (iv) new economic models for digital identity. SSI is simultaneously the potential enabler of new modes of empowerment, autonomy and data security for refugees and a means of maintaining and extending bureaucratic and commercial power. I situate SSI in a genealogy of systems of identity control and argue that, in practice, it is likely to feed into the powers of corporations and states over refugee populations.
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Henriksen, S. (2024) · Journal of Refugee Studies · doi:10.1093/jrs/feae017 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
The appification of borders: Data, migration and digitalization
Mutlu, C. E., Frowd, P. M., & Muller, B. (2025) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/20539517251319996 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Qu, R., Yuan, Y., & Xu, J. (2025) · Policy & Internet · doi:10.1002/poi3.70009 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Distributed digital identity and privacy technologies can reinforce data sovereignty but also strengthen state control (Cheesman 2022).”
The politics and spaces of public-private partnerships in humanitarian tech innovations
Egger, C. M. (2023) · Environment and Planning C Politics and Space · doi:10.1177/23996544231206822 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“For example, the development of digital biometric IDs allows for better tracking of refugee fl ows (Cheesman, 2020), while the use of drones can provide new mapping data on hard-to-reach con fl ict zones.”
A Fraud Prevention and Secure Cognitive SIM Card Registration Model
Boateng, O. N., Nkrumah, B., Boafo, V., Amponsah, A., Tetteh, L. A., Aning, J., Kornyo, O., Adekoya, A. F., Nti, I. K., Bawah, F. U., et al. (2022) · Indian Journal of Science and Technology · doi:10.17485/ijst/v15i46.1658 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Açıkyıldız, Ç. (2023) · Disasters · doi:10.1111/disa.12612 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Hart, S. U. (2023) · International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction · doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.104129 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
The Impact of Blockchains for Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of LawPreprint
G'sell, F., & Martin-Bariteau, F. (2022) · Social Science Research Network · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4170324 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Amard, A., Hoess, A., Roth, T., Fridgen, G., & Rieger, A. (2022) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-06516-3_13 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
A Qualitative Difference: Integrating Qualitative Data into Humanitarian Response Operations
Maitland, C. F., Martin, J.-L., Bravo, M. G. U., & Bertram, A. (2022) · International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) · doi:10.1145/3572334.3572398 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Rightly so, many studies focus on systems directly managing sensitive data from communities of concern, in particular systems of digital identity and biometrics [60]–[63].”
BackgroundThe new geography of asylum: digital identity, artificial intelligence and blockchain
Terranova, G. (2022) · AIMS Geosciences · doi:10.3934/geosci.2022022 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Post-Pandemic Follow-Up Audit of Security Checkpoints
Lai, K., Queiroz, L., Shmerko, V. P., Sundberg, K. W., & Yanushkevich, S. N. (2023) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2023.3238311 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“policy [35], [104], [137], [138] and risk assessments.”
Digital Refugee Lawyering: Risk, Legal Knowledge, and Accountability
Sandvik, K. B. (2021) · Refugee Survey Quarterly · doi:10.1093/rsq/hdab013 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
van der Kist, J. (2025) · Geopolitics · doi:10.1080/14650045.2025.2530417 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“In this journal as well, scholars have debated how biometric (Leese 2020; Muller 2011) and other digital identification technology (Cheesman 2022; Josipovic 2024) reduces citizenship ‘to processes of identity management and the implementation of technical operations’ (Ajana 2012, 867).”
Self-Sovereign Identity Model: Ethics and Legal Principles
Mattei, L., Morpurgo, F., Occhipinti, C., Vaquer, L. M. R., & Vasylieva, T. (2024) · Digital Society · doi:10.1007/s44206-024-00113-2 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“For instance, “it is imaginable that individuals could use an SSI interface on a mobile device to hold their digital ID(s) and manage data exchange” (Cheesman, 2020 ).”
Leveraging Technology for Ethical and Sustainable Global Development
Bhutani, V., Bahadur, P. S., & Sansaniwal, S. K. (2025) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/979-8-3693-9072-6.ch011 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Doing Digital Migration Studies:
Leurs, K., & Ponzanesi, S. (2024) · Amsterdam University Press eBooks · doi:10.2307/jj.11895524.5 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Tazzioli, M. (2025) · International Migration · doi:10.1111/imig.70067 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Big data, surveillance, and migration: a neo-republican account
Sager, A. (2023) · Journal of Global Ethics · doi:10.1080/17449626.2023.2271016 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“As Margie Cheesman warns, states and corporations can reappropriate highly touted digital identity tools that use blockchains to sidestep the need for centralized identi fi cation, especially when these technologies are depoliticized and torn from the contexts in which they are used (Cheesman 2020).”
Causal Models Applied to the Patterns of Human Migration due to Climate Change
Lai, K., & Yanushkevich, S. N. (2023) · IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI) · doi:10.1109/ssci52147.2023.10372049 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Various solutions have been proposed to alleviate the problem of migration [7], [8], [9], [10], [11].”
BackgroundIndonesia's Response to Rohingya Refugees in the Perspective of International Law in 2023
Siregar, M. (2024) · The Easta Journal Law and Human Rights · doi:10.58812/eslhr.v2i02.197 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Dark side of IT : A misleading expression?
Masiero, S. (2023) · The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries · doi:10.1002/isd2.12293 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“” The GEN project illuminates, argues Cheesman (2021, 2022), the specific system of interests inscribed in biometric technologies of humani-tarianism.”
BackgroundPong, B., & Prasse‐Freeman, E. (2025) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/20539517251320007 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…(Goldstein and Faxon, 2022), agricultural technologies and social media (Faxon, 2023), (counter)mapping (Bowe et al., 2020),digital identity (Cheesman, 2020) or block-chain protocols (Hung, 2024), to name just a few applications, technologies can either be harmful to, or appropriated by,…”
Humility, autonomy, and simplicity: three principles for humanitarian design
Scott‐Smith, T. (2025) · Third World Quarterly · doi:10.1080/01436597.2025.2491094 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“It is not just unusual proteins and flat-pack shelters that become elevated in this way; the same thing has happened to blockchains (Cheesman 2022; Coppi and Fast 2019), drones (Emery 2016; Sandvik and lohne 2014), solar lamps (Cross 2013; Rosenberg-Jansen 2022) and cookstoves (Abdelnour and Saeed…”
Problematising Medical Data in Humanitarian Response
Stellmach, D., Pinaud, M., Tudor, M., & Fast, L. A. (2023) · Journal of Humanitarian Affairs · doi:10.7227/jha.105 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Blockchain-Based Self-Sovereign Identities: Current Landscape and Research Opportunities
Costa, R. D. S., & da Cunha, P. R. (2024) · Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems Development · doi:10.62036/isd.2024.20 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Finally, [12] examines the implications of ‘self-sovereign identity’ (SSI) for border politics and migration management, identifying a series of competing logics in the debates around SSI’s emancipatory potential.”
Evaluation of Cryptography Algorithm Based on Digital Identity Authentication
Zhang, L., Sheng, J., Zhang, Y., & Wu, Q. (2024) · Procedia Computer Science · doi:10.1016/j.procs.2024.10.122 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Bitcoin trade volume in decentralized markets: International evidence
Roche, G. A. G., Noël, A., & Sauce, L. (2025) · Technological Forecasting and Social Change · doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124054 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
ICT4D and Critical Data Studies: A Joint Research Agenda
Masiero, S. (2022) · International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) · doi:10.1145/3572334.3572388 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“A further instance is provided in Cheesman [10], showing blockchainbased architectures biasing infrastructures of humanitarian aid, leading to fear and concern from the refugees involved in such infrastructures.”
BackgroundA Postcolonial Card Cartel: How European Companies Sold Biometric Voting in Africa
Debos, M. (2025) · Development and Change · doi:10.1111/dech.70000 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Making Digital (Non)Citizens: Digital Identity, Non-Knowledge and Statelessness in Cambodia
Canzutti, L. (2025) · Geopolitics · doi:10.1080/14650045.2025.2538024 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
The making of migrants’ wageless life: Exploiting by debasing
Tazzioli, M. (2025) · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · doi:10.1177/0308518x251365249 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-Sovereign Identities: Brief History and Survey of the Field
Costa, R. D. S., & da Cunha, P. R. (2025) · Lecture notes in information systems and organisation · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-87880-0_3 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Data Justice in Digital Social Welfare: A Study of the Rythu Bharosa SchemePreprint
Masiero, S., & Buddha, C. (2021) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2108.09732 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“…representation and treatment of people through digital data production acquire greater relevance in contexts of vulnerability, such as informal labour (Krishna, 2021), labour in the gig economy (Heeks et al., 2020), forced migration and displacement (Cheesman, 2020; Martin & Taylor, 2021).”
BackgroundWeb3 and the entrepreneurial imaginary of the 2022 Lisbon Web Summit
Faustino, S. (2023) · Anthropology Today · doi:10.1111/1467-8322.12830
Raj, V., & Alam, S. (2023) · Multidisciplinary Reviews · doi:10.31893/multirev.2023045
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The Distributions of Distributed Governance
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Reading and writing at the interface
Johns, F. (2023) · London Review of International Law · doi:10.1093/lril/lrae001
Conclusions: On Doing Digital Migration Studies
Leurs, K. (2024) · Amsterdam University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9789048555758-024
Risky identities: Digital identity challenges for stateless Rohingya in first asylum states
Sheikh, S., & Pulkkinen, V. (2024) · Journal of Digital Media & Policy · doi:10.1386/jdmp_00161_1
Beyond Trial and Error: Strategic Assessment of Decentralized Identity in US HealthcarePreprint
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Blockchain, Carbon, Currencies: An Appraisal of the Application of Blockchain for REDD+Preprint
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Absent Tech: Data, Violence and (Non)Credibility at the EU Borders
Canzutti, L. (2025) · International Migration · doi:10.1111/imig.70040
CONTESTED ENTITLEMENTS OF INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW
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Blockchain powered verifiable certificates
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Metaphors for Good Digital Identities
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“This also means questioning whether digital identity systems are “voluntary" [27] or whether for certain individuals these would become mandatory, with only some benefitting from fast adoption of digital identities.”
MIDAS and the Performative Dimensions of Global Migration Management
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0007
Sovereign Power, Postcolonial Hierarchy, and Global Crimmigration Control
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0003
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.002.0007
Introduction: Digital Borders and Social Exclusion
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0002
Conclusion: Enacting the ‘Crimmigrant Other’ in the Global South
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0011
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0008
A Golden Touch? MIDAS, Biometrics, and the Expansion of Crimmigration Control
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0010
Theorizing Crimmigration Control Technologies: Performativity, Pragmatism, and Humanism
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0004
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0009
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.002.0006
From Unease to Critique: Pragmatism as a Research Paradigm
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0005
Towards eID Authentication: Readiness Assessment System for ThaID Integration
Onuean, A., Kulkasem, P., Kanyunthong, N., Tansavetwong, S., Kunphruk, J., Thananchai, K., Madhyamapurush, C., & Chinnasarn, K. (2025) · ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing (SNPD) · doi:10.1109/snpd65828.2025.11252643
“In response, governments worldwide have prioritized secure digital identity verification by implementing National Digital Identity (Digital ID) systems [2].”
- Authors
- Cheesman, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Cheesman, Margie
- ORCID
- Cheesman, Margie
- Venue
- Geopolitics
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-10-04
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 134-159
- ISSN
- 1465-0045 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-3028
- OpenAlex
- W3090713708
- Cited by
- 109
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 10
- FWCI
- 16.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Geopolitics (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Refugees, and Integration
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration and Exile Studies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
- Keywords
- self-sovereign identity, digital identity, refugees, blockchain, border politics, migration management, identity control, technological neutrality, global governance, nation-state, digital economy, data security, refugee empowerment
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