No, the UN is not planning to implant the world with biometric IDs

What’s more wild than science fiction’s robots, aliens and galaxies far, far away? The internet, that’s what.

Word on the world wide web is that the United Nations is scheming to implant "everyone" with a "biometric ID." Say goodbye to your privacy.

A story by website truthandaction claims that the United Nations is planning to have "all humans imprinted with biometric identification cards by 2030" as part of its "Global Goals agenda."

No.

The story was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

This conspiracy theory is an overreach of a system that the UN is using to help identify refugees through biometrics that include facial recognition, fingerprints and iris scans.

The truthandaction article points to the UN’s Global Goals initiative that was released in 2015. The agenda comprises 17 goals to achieve around the world by 2030 and includes objectives like no poverty, zero hunger and quality education. 

But the story zeroes in on a section of goal No. 16, which is called "Peace, justice and strong institutions." 

Featured Fact-check

X posts

stated on October 22, 2024 in posts on X

A photo shows The Atlantic published a story headlined “Trump is Literally Hitler.”

The section in question, 16.9, says: "By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration."

The idea, though, was to help refugees prove their identities when seeking asylum, and biometrics refers to many different types of identification (not just microchips).

As part of the the UNs 2030 goal, companies Accenture and Microsoft unveiled a blockchain ID system prototype in 2017:

It "combines a person`s biometric information such as their fingerprint or retina scan with blockchain, the record-keeping technology that underpins cryptocurrencies, to create a legal identity. When operational, the tool will provide refugees with the ability to present their IDs via an app on their smartphones at border crossings to prove they`re coming from a refugee camp and qualify for aid. The app will also enable displaced individuals to share their identities when required to access basic services such as education and healthcare."

Since then, biometric technology has been developed to help identify refugee populations (though there have been some concerns about the practice).

But the claim that the UN is planning to implant the world’s population with a microchip ID is far off. We found no mention of implanted microchips in the UN’s goals.

Even if UN-backed biometric technology is aimed to expand beyond refugee and immigrant populations, this theory is based on speculation and overblows the facts.

We rate it False.