ID

development, ID

Biometrics & Development

Using biometrics in development: lessons and challenges (Guardian)

Citizens of rich countries take official identification for granted. But many in poor countries lack robust IDs, or indeed any documentation at all. This “identity gap” has been an obstacle to inclusive development in many countries. But increasingly, governments and donors have turned to digital fingerprints, iris scans, and other biometrics to provide inclusive, secure and accurate identification for their citizens, from national IDs, to elections and social welfare payments. In a recent Center for Global Development working paper, we surveyed 160 cases where biometric identification had been used for such programmes in over 70 developing countries — cases which cover over 1 billion people!

More at the link.

development, ID

CGD continues its good work on ID & Development

Among the DC think tank set, Alan Gelb and the Center for Global Development (CGD) have been early proponents of applying biometric ID management techniques to strengthen international development projects. See: Fingerprint Haiti Now: Biometrics in Haiti, One Year Later from late 2010.

More recently, Mr. Gelb has been joined at CGD by Julia Clark. Together, they recently published the working paper: Identification for Development: The Biometrics Revolution.

Their most recent contribution is an audio discussion of the state of ID moderated by the CGD’s Lawrence MacDonald.

The Biometrics Revolution — Alan Gelb and Julia Clark (Center for Global Development)

People who have identification, such as a driver’s license or social security card, frequently take it for granted, Alan explains. In fact, having identification opens doors—figuratively as well as literally.

“There are a lot of people in poor countries who are marginalized because they have no official identity. With no official identity, you can’t access government services; you really can’t participate in a normal economy,” Alan says. “So once you realize that ID is necessary, the question becomes what kind of ID you should have. And if one is looking for an ID which is robust, with which you can be reasonably sure that other people can’t pretend to be you, that’s where biometric ID comes in.”

The program ends with a plug for their free and open event in Washington, DC next Tuesday (Feb. 12).

I highly recommend that you click one of the links above.

bank, ID, law

US: Iowa bank adds biometrics into customer ID mix

Bridge Community Bank introduces in-branch biometric security (Finextra)

…[C]ustomers submit fingerprint and facial biometric data as well as their name, address, date and country of birth and gender. Tascet uses this data to generate a 16-digit ‘financial security number’ which is linked to the customer account. To identify themselves in a branch and carry out transactions, customers then provide their name and fingerprint.

This is exactly the kind of thing we predicted in the wake of Patco Construction v People’s United Bank.

[B]anks [now] have more responsibility to shield their business customers from fraud. That responsibility, however, will entail a cost that will ultimately be borne by customers in higher fees — applied directly to this this case, wiring fees. But if not appealed and/or upheld, it means banks will be offering customers more security and charging higher prices, part of which will flow to security providers including biometric ID management providers.

Bridge Community Bank is in Iowa.

ID, law, schools, technology

Court: Students cannot opt out of ID badge policy

Student Suspended for Refusing to Wear RFID Tracker Loses Lawsuit (Wired)

Sophomore Andrea Hernandez was notified in November by the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio that she won’t be able to continue attending John Jay High School unless she wears the badge around her neck. The district said the girl, who objects largely on religious grounds, would have to attend another high school that does not employ the RFID tags.

She sued, a judge tentatively halted the suspension, but changed course Tuesday after concluding that the 15-year-old’s right of religion was not breached. That’s because the district eventually agreed to accommodate the girl and allow her to remove the RFID chip while still demanding that she wear the identification like the other students.

The Hernandez family claims the badge and its chip signifies Satan, or the “Mark of the Beast” warning in Revelations 13:16-18. The girl refused the district’s offer, sued, and was represented by the Rutherford Institute.

It is clear that the public hasn’t quite come to grips with the use ID technology technology in the administration of (more-or-less compulsory) public services involving children.

ID, India, UID

UID in the NYT

The New York Times takes a look at India’s UID program.

India Aims to Keep Money for Poor Out of Others’ Pockets (New York Times)

India has more poor people than any nation on earth, but many of its antipoverty programs end up feeding the rich more than the needy. A new program hopes to change that.

On Jan. 1, India eliminated a raft of bureaucratic middlemen by depositing government pension and scholarship payments directly into the bank accounts of about 245,000 people in 20 of the nation’s hundreds of districts, in a bid to prevent corrupt state and local officials from diverting much of the money to their own pockets. Hundreds of thousands more people will be added to the program in the coming months.

There’s an iris vs. retina faux pas but the article is more about politics and political science than technology.

census, ID, Nigeria

Comprehensive biometric census and ID for Nigeria

Nigerians to get ID number (Vanguard)

In a move to curtail insurgency and other criminal challenges confronting the country, the National Population Commission, NPC, has commenced a comprehensive biometric capturing of all Nigerians, with a view to allocating every Nigerian number that would be associated with him or her from birth to death.

It looks like Nigeria aspires to something akin to the National Population Register that India is working on.

fingerprint, ID, India, iris, modality, UID

India: UID going multi-modal

Iris scan to add layer to Aadhaar authentication (Business Standard)

Iris

One of the biggest purported flaws of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)’s Aadhaar programme was the risk of deterioration of beneficiaries’ fingerprint quality, especially given the country’s large farm worker population, among the main target groups.

But, almost in sync with the government’s plan of rolling out the ambitious direct benefits transfer (DBT) scheme nationwide, starting with 20 districts from January 1, the UIDAI is finishing work on introducing iris-based authentication in the first quarter of 2013, said a senior UIDAI official.

bank, banking, Ghana, ID

Ghana banking sector embraces private sector biometrics, too

A lot of international attention has been focused on Ghana’s use of biometrics for voter ID management, but Ghanaian banks have been enthusiastic adopters of the technology, as well.

Ghana Automated Clearing House transaction volumes hit almost 200% (Ghana Business News)

GhIPSS was set up by the Bank of Ghana some five years ago to lead the migration of the country into an electronic payment society. Since its establishment, the wholly owned Bank of Ghana subsidiary has introduced a biometric card called the e-zwich, an electronic clearing of cheques with express clearing session, and Payment Distribution System. Its recent addition is the gh-link Interbank ATM Transaction Switching that allows bank to share ATMs.

ID, Nigeria

On biometric ID

Director-General, National Identity Management Commission, Mr. Chris Onyemenam, in an interview with Punch:

Many Nigerians are of the view that the issuance of national identification numbers and cards will add no value to their lives, how will you react to this?

That is not true! I don’t think many Nigerians think that way, you will probably be thinking that the cynicism of the past will continue and that’s why we have embarked on an awareness campaign to enlighten people, to make them understand that what we had done in the past might have achieved limited success, but what we are doing today is different from what we did in the past.

In the past, the focus was on the issuance of an identification card; but today, we have made it slightly different to say that what we need first and foremost is to be able to create and manage identities. And one way to manage the identity is to issue the card. The card is not an end in itself but a means to an end; that end is to be able to affirm and confirm your identity that used to be what we ignored in the past.

In the past, we issued identification cards in the mistaken belief that once we issued a card, we have been able to secure and genuinely confirm the identity of an individual, which is not true because if you go to any business centre you can create a photo ID. So, what we do now is to say, what are those things that will be put in place that will be accepted by everybody as a means by which you can affirm your identity?

And one of the key features of that system is the use of the biometrics; the use of biometrics in that sense means that you can always confirm using the biometrics that the identity that has been revealed or that we have sort to confirm is exactly the identity that we want to deal with.

fraud, ID, India, UID, welfare

India: UID exposing ghost welfare beneficiaries and what the numbers mean

Aadhar helps weed out fake ration cards in Andhra  (The Indian Express)

Linking the public distribution system to Aadhar has been unearthing a huge number of fake or duplicate ration cards and civil supplies officials are now counting their savings per ration shop. In some Andhra Pradesh districts where enrolment is high, officials have counted savings up to Rs 10-12 crore every month.

“In Hyderabad district we are seeing savings of Rs 40,000 per fair-price shop per month,” says commissioner of civil supplies Harpreet Singh. “In East Godavari, it is Rs 30,000. Since the online centralised data cannot be manipulated at shop level, only the intended beneficiaries are able to take rations. Both the Centre and the state, which give heavy subsidies, are saving.”

I haven’t done this in a while.

Of course, the numbers up there are big and it seems pretty bad but what does it mean?

First the money:
Rs 11 crore = 110,000,000 rupees = USD 2 million  (2,005,424.95 as of today)

Then what the money means in context:
India GDP – per capita (PPP): $3,700 (2011 est.)

Two million dollars represents the annual earnings of 542 average Indians being stolen from the welfare system in just this one type of scheme (fake cards at ration shops) every month in this one district alone.

To compare apples to apples (years to years), that’s the annual productive capacity of 6,504 Indians disappearing into the pockets of fraudsters in a single district every year.

There are 640 districts in India.

enrollment, ID, ID assurance, Postal Service, verification

New Zealand Post office to offer ID assurance services

New Zealand Post online ID system backed by lawmakers (Post & Parcel)

New Zealand has adopted legislation granting the powers for a new national online identity verification service run by the government jointly with New Zealand Post.

The Electronic Identity Verification Act was passed by the nation’s Parliament last week, allowing private sector organisations to access the RealMe ID verification service.

The service launches in 2013 to verify people that use certain services over the Internet are who they claim to be.

NZ Post is set to get even more involved in ID services (see last year’s New Zealand ID Management: New Possibilities).

Around the world, enterprising postal services — who have seen their traditional business model of moving paper around steadily eroded — have been changing adding more explicit identity management services. I say “more explicit” because I believe it can be argued that the primary function of the postal service has always been identity management, the paper part was just ancillary to the ID part.

This post, The Post Office, Identity Assurance & Biometrics, expands on the theme.

Click Postal Service (or use the label in the footer) for more on post offices and ID services.

airport, ID, survey, travel

Biometrics for convenience and security

Air travellers frustrated by security checks: IATA study (The Hindu)

The Survey, which included passengers from 114 countries who had travelled by air in the last 12 months, was released late Thursday in Geneva. The participating countries include India, China, US, Canada, UAE, Ukraine, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq.
…
Among the respondents of the survey, 77 per cent were comfortable to use biometric identification for more convenient airport transit and 71 per cent would prefer to use a self-boarding device at the gate, such as a mobile phone.

An even greater majority (86 per cent) were prepared to provide the airline their passport details in advance to allow a smoother journey. While only a quarter of the respondents have ever used an automated immigration border gate on arrival at an airport using their ePassport or ID card, as high as 91 per cent said they would be interested in such a service to allow a faster arrival process.

There is little to no privacy in international travel. Many people just want to be able to complete the ID processes relied upon by security professionals with a little less hassle.

border, ID, South Africa

South Africa to modernize border

Plan for new border agency at ‘advanced stage’ (Business Day)

“Many countries have taken steps to ensure that there is integrated management of borders to prevent traffic in illicit goods and passage of illegal foreign nationals,” she said. “We are developing a white paper that will be presented to the Cabinet. The agency will ensure greater co-ordination and better border management.”

Addressing the media for the first time since she took over the portfolio from Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Ms Pandor said her department was on track with its modernisation processes, which included upgrading IT infrastructure; live capture systems for identity documents, passports, permits and visas; and the new national population register system that would carry records of births and citizens.

ID, India, state, welfare

India: Plugging welfare leakages with biometrics

The Hindu – The State government of Karnataka has rejected more than 118,000 applications seeking ration cards in Gulbarga and Yadgir districts. The state has also cancelled 5.2 million ration cards.

Since, biometric details have been required in association with applications for public assistance, fewer applications have passed muster with the authorities.

The linked article is heavy on statistics.

ID, India, UID, UIDAI

UIDAI success is national progress

Saral Money, an initiative being leveraged by VISA on Aadhaar platform, will ease money transactions (CIOL)

RS Sharma UIDAI DG informed that 27 crore [270 million] individuals have been enrolled while 22 crore Aadhaar cards have been issued so far. Sharma said that they are currently enrolling 2 crore citizens on a monthly basis. ”The objective is to facilitate banking access to the common man. The Saral Money allows people to transact through handheld devices available at local neighborhood shops,” he said.

Kind of like a fingerprint Western Union. Much more at the link.

Fiji, ID, vote, voter

All in: Second round of Fiji biometric voter enrollment closes

Fiji 

Fiji’s Voter Registration Breaks Half a Million (Press Release – PR Newswire)

Fiji has marked another significant milestone in its path to true parliamentary democracy with the announcement that more than half a million Fijians have registered to vote in the scheduled elections in 2014. The 504,588 registered Fijian voters represent more than 80% of the estimated number of eligible voters, and registration will continue in 2013, notably for Fijians living overseas.
…
Registration will now close while the Elections Office processes the new registrations and cleanses the list of fraudulent or duplicate entries. After the first round of registration, 30 trained clerks scrutinised the voter list and removed 1,441 problematic entries. “The easy and quick identification of these problematic entries is proof that the Electronic Registration System does exactly what it is meant to do,” the Attorney-General said.

Back in September, we noted that “close to half a million” (488,734) Fijians had registered in the biometric voter ID system. That figure represented about 80% of the eligible population, so it’s not surprising that enrollment is leveling off. There aren’t that many people left to enroll.

The voter ID will also be valid for access to a range of other government services. (Fiji Times)

ID, India, UID

“The best way to kill a good idea is to implement it badly”

‘Cash transfer’ in urban centres for foodgrains, LPG, etc., is better than picking some remote rural district only to claim that the scheme has failed. (The Hindu Business Line)

The best way to kill a good idea is to implement it badly. One hopes that direct cash transfer of government funds under various welfare schemes to the bank accounts of their intended beneficiaries does not meet this fate. For, it is too good an idea to be discarded, notwithstanding all the vested interests that stand to lose from its success. All the more reason, then, for the Government to take extra care in demonstrating its feasibility on the ground, thereby silencing the prophets of doom – including those for whom welfare programmes are a means for lining their own pockets. It is in this context that reports of beneficiaries not receiving any money in their bank accounts, even in select blocks where direct payment of subsidy against kerosene purchases at market rates is being tried out on a pilot scale, make for disturbing reading. It is almost as though there is organised sabotage at work.”

The unnamed author of this opinion piece certainly seems to understand the stakes involved in the next phase of India’s UID project.

Things are about to get real.

enrollment, ID, ID management, India, UID, verification

India UID: Things are about to get real

In simple terms, an ID project has two parts: enrollment and verification.

Enrollment is the process by which a user is vetted by, entered into, or purchases an ID management regime.

Verification is when the ID management solution actually has to fulfill its intended function.

You don’t really know for certain if the key you just had made is going to open your front door until you try it. You won’t know if the combination lock you just bought works until you try it. And India won’t know how smoothly the UID-based system can provide a transition away from the subsidy system to the cash transfer system until it gives it a try.

Verification is where the rubber meets the road and India is about to take its first UID test drive as Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, announced last month the launch of a direct electronic cash transfer scheme leveraging India’s Unique Identification (UID) Programme. (FutureGov)

The government has announced that direct cash transfer of subsidies to the bank accounts of the recipients would start in 51 out of India’s 659 districts from January 2013 and would be gradually extended to the rest of the country by April 2014. (The Hindu)

Hopefully things go well. It’s hard to overstate the challenge involved or the importance of the project’s success.