Nigeria
Joining several other countries, including Kenya, Uganda and India, Nigeria’s government is in the process of rolling out a digital identity system to enable easier access to public and private services, reports Reuters.
But, like those and other digital ID projects around the world, Nigeria’s initiative has been dogged by privacy concerns, with citizens and rights groups saying the country’s lack of data protection leaves their personal information open to abuse.
By October 2020, six years after the government launched a national electronic identity card, less than a quarter of Nigeria’s 200 million people had signed up for a National Identification Number (NIN), according to the agency overseeing the scheme.
Communications minister Isa Ali Pantami has issued a directive mandating citizens to link their mobile numbers to their identity numbers by Oct 31, 2021, or risk being blocked from accessing telecommunications services.
Caribbean
ShareRing have announced a pilot programme to digitise the KYC (Know Your Customer) process for financial institutions based in the Caribbean.
The pilot is part of ShareRing’s plans to roll out its blockchain based identity and verifiable credentials ecosystem across a number of industries including health, events, financial services and travel.
This digital ‘eKYC’ pilot will enable credit unions, insurance companies and other financial institutions to receive their customers ID and supporting documents in an encrypted digital format through their mobile device.
The solution will eliminate much of the time-consuming aspects of account sign-up processes while still ensuring the institutions operate within the regulatory framework. ShareRing’s scope includes exploring the potential for credit approvals and identity verification checks from one financial institution to be made available to other similar institutions or third parties.
Pakistan
Muhammad Tariq Malik, the Chairman of Pakistan’s biometric National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) says a move to verify the Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) of citizens will soon go underway after reported cases of fraudulent issuance of the document, writes Geo TV, as per Biometric Update.
As part of efforts to handle the situation, Malik, who returned as NADRA boss in June, confirmed that 47 NADRA workers had been dismissed from their job for facilitating the issuance or unblocking of the fraudulent digital ID cards.
This was the subject of a recent meeting between the Senate Standing Committee on Interior Affairs and the NADRA Chairman during which the Committee Chairman, Senator Talha Mahmood, brought up the issue. Senator Mahmood said he was aware of people whose blocked ID cards had been unblocked by NADRA staff, with one of them reportedly promised a house as reward for rendering the fraudulent service.
According to Malik, NADRA quickly responded to the cases of the fake digital ID cards by blocking them using AI technology, and that 47 of the 87 persons cited in the matter have already been relieved of their functions. He added that the body has equally been reorganized following instructions from Prime Minister Imran Khan.
UAE
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are introducing an upgraded version of the Emirates ID card which they say has advanced security features, according to Gulf News.
The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) said the issuance of the card is part of the project for the production of a new generation of Emirati passports and national identity cards.
Gulf News quoted Major General Suhail Saeed Al Khaili, Acting Director General of ICA, as saying the move is in line with the objectives of the government to develop a system of quality data of the population, and to make available to citizens “…an advanced system based on best practices and international standards in managing personal identity and providing high quality services.”
The new ID card version, like the Emirati passports, is said to be built with high-security components in order to make forgery difficult.
Meanwhile, a report by Khaleej Times indicates that some residents have already started receiving the new ID cards as of late-June.
Barbados
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology of Barbados, Senator Kay McConney, has disclosed that the country’s new digital ID cards are still being tested, but will be launched soon if the trial is successful.
Per Nation News via Biometric Update, the Minister said during the recent announcement that the government is working to ensure that the cards are launched quickly.
She also revealed that about a fortnight ago, fully printed samples of the cards were sent to the organisation that will be in charge of overseeing the issuance, to ensure that the document, which will be used for travel, complies with international security standards.
Barbados is also planning negotiations with other governments in a bid to have the ID card accepted as an international travel document, the Minister said.
At the start of the year, the Prime Minister of the Caribbean island nation expressed the wish to see the digital ID card rollout fast-tracked so it could help the country in COVID contact-tracing.
Romania
Romania is hoping to issue 5,000 digital identity cards during 2021, and has begun a pilot project in the city of Cluj-Napoca, according to HotNews.ro.
The cards include a facial image of the bearer and two fingerprints for biometric verification, in compliance with EU regulations for ID cards serving as travel documents within the regional bloc.
The ID cards are expected to be issued to Romanians within 15 to 30 days of an application being filed, with a cost of €14 for both a version with digital storage and one without.
In addition to travel, the digital version will be used for authentication to the National Health Insurance scheme, as well as government services. Integration with systems for criminal records, driving licenses and vehicle registration are also being considered.
Country-wide digital ID card issuance is expected to begin in 18 months.
Africa
An international flagship project designed to expand financial inclusion among SMEs on the African continent has launched. The project has been realised with the support of the German Federal Government through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
The initiative is equipping SMEs across Africa with globally recognised business identities, in the form of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs). The LEI is comparable to an international company ID card; it contains good quality business card and ownership structure information about a legal entity which can be verified quickly and efficiently by anyone, anywhere, enabling organisations to know precisely with whom they are doing business.
Supplying LEIs to African SMEs aims to strengthen financial inclusion in the region by enabling them to apply for trade finance and establish contractual, regulated agreements with banks, payment networks and trading partners, leading to broader access to financial services and greater participation in both domestic and international markets. Ultimately, the intention of the initiative is to strengthen Africa’s SME base and increase the flow of inbound capital needed to fuel the continent’s economic development.
Europe
Campaign group the3million has submitted proposals to the UK government suggesting a QR-based system to give EU citizens in the UK a clearer way to prove their settled status, notes Public Technology.
The application window for settled status for EU citizens living in the UK closed at the end of June 2021. Six million people applied either entirely online with a problematic app for biometric identity verification or by submitting a paper form.
EU citizens given settled status will not be issued with a physical credential (the UK does not have a national ID system and is still at the evidence-gathering stage for a digital ID system) and instead will rely on anyone needing to check their status, such as an employer or landlord, via an online Gov.UK system using a code that the claimant first has to generate online. There is little understanding of this system among people who may have to use it or even the awareness that it exists, according to the3million.
The campaign group’s proposal is a secure QR code system which could be issued digitally or physically. The UK Home Office could use private keys to embed a digital signature into the system and the corresponding public key could be built into official Home Office apps which could be used to scan the codes.
the3million believes this would be more familiar, less onerous and much more convenient, and could counter the “micro-instances” of discrimination EU nationals face in the UK by service providers effectively not engaging with them by simply not knowing how to handle the current government system.
The current code-based approach could also be proving discriminatory, according to campaigners, as the government could be keeping a record of each time a verification code is generated by an EU national and who checks this code against the system. No such data is generated by UK nationals.
