Official stance of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding the problem of electronic identification of individuals

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleОфициальная позиция Русской Православной Церкви по проблемам электронной идентификации личности
3. Language term Russian
4. lemma author Asliturk, Miriam
5. lemma category Orthodox view on technology and engineering
6. Publication date 18-05-2018
7. lemma work Филимонов, Валерий [Author]. Официальная позиция Русской Православной Церкви по проблемам электронной идентификации личности
8. lemma manifestations Русская народная линия информационно-аналитическая служба. Православие Самодержавие Народность.
9. Keywords identification technologies - biometrics - Russian Orthodox Church - new technologies - globalisation
10. Url Click Here
11. Citations
    1. <p>Филимонов, Валерий (2016). Официальная позиция Русской Православной Церкви по проблемам электронной идентификации личности. <em>Русская народная линия информационно-аналитическая служба. Православие Самодержавие Народность</em>.<em> </em>Retrieved from: <br /> <a href="http://ruskline.ru/analitika/2016/10/04/oficialnaya_poziciya_russkoj_pravoslavnoj_cerkvi_po_problemam_elektronnoj_identifikacii_lichnosti/">http://ruskline.ru/analitika/2016/10/04/oficialnaya_poziciya_russkoj_pravoslavnoj_cerkvi_po_problemam_elektronnoj_identifikacii_lichnosti/</a> </p> <p> </p>
12. Lemma body

    1. The article reviews, chronologically, official statements by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) concerning the problem of globalization, electronic identification of persons and the use of new technologies. In 2000, the ROC’s Council of Bishops adopted the social policy of the Church in which it pointed out that globalization could be associated with the construction of the Tower of Babel and represented serious challenges as it not only changed the usual ways of organizing economic processes, but also “the traditional ways of organizing society and exercising power.” The same document commented on the use of new biotechnologies stressing that their fast development was not accompanied by the comprehension of the possible spiritual, moral and social consequences of uncontrolled use of such technologies.

       In 2001-2005, the ROC appealed to the authorities of the Russian Federation in order to legalize the principle of voluntariness in the use of new ways of identifying the individual, namely as far as the attribution of the INN (Individual Identification Number of taxpayer) and the introduction of new passports were concerned. The Church also repeatedly expressed its concern about the discrimination that the new identification system could entail for those people who, for various reasons, refused to participate in it. At the same time, the Church emphasized the necessity of having an alternative system of identification (by name only) for such citizens.

       In 2006, Metropolitan Bishop Cyril (now Patriarch) expressed the Church’s negative attitude toward the “implanting of universal electronic identifiers under the human skin or their incorporation in another way”. He also confirmed the earlier expressed opinion that individuals should have the right to say "no" to any electronic identification. In 2008 this statement was fixed in the ROC’s “Fundamentals of the Doctrine on Dignity, Freedom and Human Rights”, adopted by the Bishops' Council. In 2010 the ROC issued another statement on new individual identification technologies. It reiterated in this document the same position: the official ROC does not consider as sinful the use of identification and registration technologies when dealing with the state “provided that a person knows all the information and symbols stored and transmitted with the help of these technologies, and [provided] it does not contradict his beliefs and will." In 2013-2016, Patriarch Cyril, in his letter to the President of the Russian Federation as well as in his address to the State Duma, reiterated these concerns.