China
China is to roll out a digital version of its national identity card that residents can store and access on their smartphone across the whole country “this year”, the Chinese premier Li Keqiang has told a press briefing.
The announcement at the National People’s Congress in Beijing comes after regional digital ID pilots beginning in 2018 that have enabled residents of cities such as Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou and Fuzhou to authenticate their identity with a virtual ID card for hotel registration, ticketing, banking and other use cases.
Keqiang said that one aim of the national rollout was “meeting basic living needs” in people’s daily lives, especially those living away from their home province.
Greece / Israel
Trulioo now provides coverage in Greece and Israel via Trulioo GlobalGateway, its global identity verification platform.
With GlobalGateway, organisations operating in these two nations may now “perform identity checks on consumers that support regional Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.”
Seamless ID verification assists with scaling compliance programmes internationally and “facilitate secure digital onboarding as they expand into new jurisdictions and geographies.”
The company says the use of cash payments in Greece is widespread and 15 percent of the population do not have bank accounts, making it difficult to verify individuals through conventional means, like credit bureaus.
Japan
Hitachi and Digital Trust Networks have tested a biometric solution based on the Accountable Digital Identity (ADI) Association 1.0 Specification.
The pilot was reportedly conducted in February at an unnamed luxury hotel in Tokyo to assess how digital identity and biometric authentication could reduce hotel check-in times. As part of the tests, hotel staff members confirmed individuals’ identities by checking their digital credentials for COVID-19 vaccination certificates, hotel membership status, and reservation information.
This is not the first time biometrics and digital identity solutions have been used in the hospitality sector in Japan, with similar solutions deployed by NEC and Fujitsu in the past.
United Kingdom
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London-based identity verification service provider Shufti Pro has secured $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Updata Partners, a tech-focused growth equity firm.
Shufti Pro claims the investment will enable it to accelerate its global expansion, product development and extend the company’s compliance suite.
Canada
The Saskatchewan government is looking into whether it should adopt digital ID for residents, a measure the province says will make accessing services easier.
However, some have raised privacy concerns with the technology — fears that were recently allayed by Jim Reiter, the minister responsible for SaskBuilds and Procurement. He said the digital ID won’t be mandatory after the issue was raised earlier this week at the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention in Regina.
According to government documents obtained by Postmedia, the government is aiming to launch the service in 2023 for use with provincial services should it decide to move forward.
The province is currently in the process of selecting a vendor to potentially initiate digital ID, which is meant to replace the need for physical ID cards.
Sri Lanka
The Ministry of Technology states that the proposal regarding the introduction of a digital national identity card in Sri Lanka under Indian assistance will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval today (Monday).
The Secretary to the Ministry, Jayantha de Silva stated that the agreement will be signed during the visit of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka.
The Secretary further stated that the Government of India has agreed to provide $8 million in assistance for the implementation of the digital national identity card programme in Sri Lanka.
The card will be introduced to verify the identity of individuals on the basis of their biometric data.
The Secretary to the Ministry of Technology added that it has been planned to issue a Digital National Identity Card to Sri Lankan citizens from November this year.
