Digital Public Infrastructure Universal SafeguardsUniversal DPI Safeguards Framework
Original DPI Safeguards illustration of a connected digital ecosystem

Explore the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework

Start with the part of the framework that matches your work. Then connect it to the other dimensions and the relevant recommendations.

The 2024 framework treats safeguards as an ongoing responsibility. It covers technical choices, organizational responsibilities and legal protections for people who rely on shared digital systems.

Risks

The first version groups 13 risks by their effect on people and the conditions that make safeguards less effective.

Safety
Privacy vulnerability, digital insecurity, physical insecurity and lack of recourse.
Inclusion
Discrimination, unequal access, exclusion and disempowerment.
Structural vulnerabilities
Digital distrust, weak rule of law, weak institutions, technical shortcomings and unsustainability.

Principles

The nine foundational principles guide every DPI. The nine operational principles address the decisions and practices that can vary by context.

Foundational principles
  1. Do no harm. Identify potential harms to people and address them throughout the life cycle.
  2. Do not discriminate. Check whether outcomes differ by identity, location or circumstance, and address the barriers you find.
  3. Do not exclude. Provide accessible routes to essential services, including alternatives where people cannot use a digital channel.
  4. Reinforce transparency and accountability. Make responsibilities, decisions and oversight mechanisms visible.
  5. Uphold the rule of law. Define a clear legal basis and maintain effective oversight.
  6. Promote autonomy and agency. Give people practical choices and ways to exercise control over their data.
  7. Foster community engagement. Involve affected communities in decisions, evaluation and feedback.
  8. Ensure effective remedy and redress. Provide accessible complaint, appeal and remedy channels.
  9. Focus on future sustainability. Consider operating capacity, costs and environmental effects over the long term.
Operational principles
  1. Leverage market dynamics. Support fair competition and an ecosystem that can develop and maintain services.
  2. Evolve with evidence. Use transparent reviews and ongoing feedback to adjust safeguards as conditions change.
  3. Ensure data privacy by design. Build privacy safeguards into decisions about what data is needed and how it can be used.
  4. Assure data security by design. Maintain security protections and clear accountability across systems and organizations.
  5. Ensure data protection during use. Limit and monitor data processing to enforce the protections that apply to its use.
  6. Respond to gender, ability or age. Check how people encounter barriers based on gender, disability or age and account for those differences in service design.
  7. Practise inclusive governance. Establish transparent, participatory oversight with duties that support safety and inclusion.
  8. Sustain financial viability. Plan how the build, operation and maintenance phases will be funded over time.
  9. Build and share open assets. Reuse and share open specifications, protocols and digital public goods so that services can evolve.

Responsible authorities

Safeguards rely on distinct responsibilities across the DPI ecosystem. Public authorities set mandates and oversee implementation. Operators and service providers implement controls and maintain reliable services. Civil society and affected communities can help identify barriers, assess outcomes and hold decision-makers to account.

Record which organization owns each decision, who monitors it, and where someone can get help or challenge an outcome.

Life cycle stages

  1. Conception and Scoping. Define the service need, its intended beneficiaries, the legal basis and the most significant risks.
  2. Strategy and Design. Set requirements for accessible alternatives, data handling, oversight, and how safeguards will be tested.
  3. Development. Test prototypes with varied users and resolve issues before introducing new requirements or data collection.
  4. Deployment. Phase the rollout, train people who will operate the service, and open support and complaint channels.
  5. Operations and Maintenance. Monitor outcomes, review complaints, update safeguards, and plan for outages or system changes.

Recommendations

The original guide links risks, principles, authorities and stages to approximately 300 recommended processes and practices. Section 3 includes walkthroughs that illustrate how to apply the dimensions. Annex 4 describes potential indicators for tracking results.

Example. If a benefit relies on digital identity, test whether a person without the required phone or documentation can still apply. Assign responsibility for an assisted or offline route, measure whether people can complete it, and use complaints to identify gaps.

Browse the reading guide Open the framework PDF

Adapted from the September 2024 Universal DPI Safeguards Framework, published by UNDP and the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology under CC BY-SA 4.0. The descriptions and example on this page are paraphrased.