iVerify

AI-powered information platform to combat misinformation and hate speech

Website: https://digital.undp.org/iVerify-Zambia

Type of Digital Public Good

  • Open content
  • Open data
  • ✅  Open software
  • Open standard
  • Open AI model

1. Is it relevant to one of the Sustainable Development Goals?

  • 16. Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

    Evidence: iVerify is a fact-checking digital product which combats the spread of false narratives during election periods by combining new technology like AI and machine learning with human-supported fact-checking. Developed by UNDP through the Brussels-based Task Force on Electoral Assistance and the Chief Digital Office, the platform has been piloted in Zambia, ahead of the historic August 2021 general elections, and used in the general election in Honduras November 2021.

    Link to Evidence: https://digital.undp.org/content/digital/en/home/stories/ai-powered-fact-checking-tool-iverify--piloted-during-zambia-ele.html

2. Does it use an appropriate open license?

Yes, this project is licensed under the following license(s):

3. Is ownership clearly defined?

Is the ownership of the project and everything that the project produces clearly defined and documented?

Yes

If yes - please link to the relevant copyright, trademarks, or ownership documentation for the project.

https://github.com/undp/iVerify-Apps#readme

4. Does the license of libraries/dependencies undermine the openess of the project?

Does this open project have mandatory dependencies (i.e. libraries, hardware) that create more restrictions than the original license?

Yes

If yes - are the open source components able to demonstrate independence from the closed component(s) and/or are there functional, open alternatives?

Yes

If yes - please describe how the open source components are independent and/or list the open alternatives for the closed component:

Social media companies provide proprietary APIs to access their technologies (Meta's Crowdtangle for Facebook and Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, etc). Nevertheless, without access to these proprietary APIs, the iVerify tool still functions albeit requiring a manual submission rather than having an automated process. It is built in a modular way that allows for certain features to be enabled or disabled while still functioning as a whole.

5. Is there documentation?

Does some documentation exist of the source code, use cases, and/or functional requirements. For software projects, this should be present as technical documentation that would allow a technical person unfamiliar with the project to launch and run the software. For datasets and data projects, this should be present as documentation that describes all the fields in the set, and provides context on how the data was collected and how it should be interpreted. For content collections, this should indicate any relevant compatible apps, software, hardware required to access the content and any instructions about how to use it.

Yes

If yes - please link to the relevant documentation:

6. Is non PII data and/or content accessible?

Does this project collect or use non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) data and/or content?

Yes

If yes - is there a mechanism for extracting or importing non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) from the system in a non-proprietary format?

Yes

If yes - describe the mechanism for extracting or importing non-personally identifiable information from the system in a non-proprietary format:

There is a REST API for internal use to export non-PII data in a non-proprietary format (e.g. JSON, yaml, csv). Access to the codebase does not give access to different instances of these internal APIs, eg they are secure

A form exists allowing users to request access to their data.

7. Does the project adhere to privacy and other applicable international and domestic laws?

Has this project taken steps to ensure adherence with relevant privacy, domestic, and international laws? For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union or the Supplementary Act A/SA.1/01/10 on Personal Data Protection for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (yes/no)

Yes

If yes, please list some of relevant laws that the project complies with:

If yes, please describe the steps this project has taken to ensure adherence (include links to terms of service, privacy policy, or other relevant documentation):

8. Does the project adhere to standards and best practices?

Does this project support standards? (i.e. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 or other standards such as those listed on W3C)

Yes

Which standards does this project support (please list)

  • Accessibility - WCAG 2.0/2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
  • Security - HTTPS, SSL, SSH, AES
  • Authentication & Authorization - OAuth 2, JWT, SAML
  • Security Assertion Markup Language
  • Internationalization (i18n) - UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, ASCII
  • Web standards - HTML, CSS, ECMAScript (ES 5/6/7), Latex
  • Software Architectural Styles - REST, OpenAPI
  • Data Exchange formats - JSON, XML, CSV
  • Software Quality Assurance - IEEE Software Testing, IEEE829 Credentialing, W3C VC
  • Multimedia - SVG, PNG, JPEG

Can you point to evidence of your support? (i.e. please link to your validator, open test suite, etc.)

Was this project built and developed according to or in adherence with any design, technical and/or sector best practices or principles? i.e. the Principles for Digital Development?

Yes

Which principles and best practices does this project support (please list)

  • Principles of Digital Development
  • Strict access controls i. Admin – UNDP only (access administration) ii. Users – Viewing non-individual information e. Adherence to national laws f. Transparency i. Any and all external requests for data will be published 2. Security Requirements a. Risk assessment with each new country deployment b. Security Audits with each new country deployment i. Critical issues must be patched. Non-critical issues should be patched. c. Passwords: strength requirement d. Two-factor authentication (2FA): available; not required e. Adherence to national laws f. Adherence to UNDP data principles: https://data.undp.org/data-principles

9. Does the project do no harm by design?

Has this project taken steps to anticipate, prevent and do no harm by design?

On the whole, does this project take steps to ensure that it anticipates, prevents and does no harm by design?

Yes

Is there any additional information you would like to share about the mechanisms, processes or policies that this project uses to avoid doing harm by design?

iVerify has undertaken : Media Information Landscape Assessment, Misinformation & Hate Speech Landscape, Technical Assessment, Security Audit, Privacy Audit, Accessibility Audit, Algorithmic bias audit to ensure no bias in the AI models predictions.

9.a. Data Privacy & Security

Does this project collect or store personally identifiable information (PII) data and/or content?

Yes

If yes - please list the types of data and/or content collected and/or stored by the project:

  • iVerify collects PII data on the volunteer
  • - Name
  • - Phone numbers (WhatsApp numbers All are kept private)

If yes - does this project share this data and/or content with third parties?

No

Please describe the circumstances with which this project shares data and/or content with third parties. Please add links as relevant.

Not Applicable

If yes - does the project ensure the privacy, security and integrity of this data and/or content collection and has it taken steps to prevent adverse impacts resulting from its collection, storage and distribution.

Yes

If yes - please describe the steps, and include a link to the privacy policy and/or terms of service:

Privacy requirements include:
- Privacy Audit with each new country deployment,
- Not sharing personally identifiable information (PII)
- Any PII is transmitted over an encrypted internet connecting.

9.b. Inappropriate & Illegal Content

Does this project collect, store or distribute content?

Yes

If yes - what kinds of content does this project, collect, store or distribute? (i.e. childrens books)

News articles and stories

If yes - does this project have policies that describe what is considered innappropriate content? (i.e. child sexual abuse materials)

Yes

If yes - please link to the relevant policy/guidelines/documentation.

https://iverify.org.zm/about-us/

If yes - does this project have policies and processes for detecting and moderating innappropriate/illegal content?

Yes

If yes - please describe the policies and processes for detecting, reporting and removing innapropriate/illegal content (Please include the average response time for assessment and/or action. Link to any policies or descriptions of how inappropriate content is handled):

All content presented publicly has a strict moderation policy that is described in detail in our user manual https://github.com/undp/iVerify-Apps/blob/main/iVerify%20Manual%20v1_2.pdf

9.c. Protection from harassment

Does this project facilitate interactions with or between users or contributors?

No

If yes - does the project take steps to address the safety and security of underage users?

Not Applicable

If yes - please describe the steps this project takes to address risk or prevent access by underage users:

Not Applicable

If yes - does the project help users and contributors protect themselves against grief, abuse, and harassment?

Not Applicable

If yes - please describe the steps taken to help users protect themselves.

Not Applicable

Development & deployment countries

List of countries this project was developed in.

  • Zambia
  • Honduras
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Belgium
  • United States of America

List of countries this project is actively deployed in.

  • Zambia
  • Honduras