IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

In the month since July 9, when the state launched its biometric identification program in a handful of Israeli cities, 10,000 biometric passports and identity cards have been issued. The Population, Immigration and Border Authority says 40 percent of the people who applied for identity cards at participating branches requested the “smart” versions, which require providing fingerprints and photos, while 60 percent asked for the regular IDs.

The report, Mobile Biometric Security – Market Forecast Report 2013 – 2018, said that by 2017, there will be over 990 million mobile devices, including smartphones, phablets and tablets, with fingerprint sensors.

Eventually other biometric modalities will be as important as fingerprint sensors on mobile devices, including voice and facial recognition, and eye and behavioral modalities, according to the report.

Visa has collaborated on this project with five Indian banks: SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Axis Bank, the Hindustanitimes reports.

This system works by issuing those with Aadhaar numbers a new Visa Instant Account and a pre-paid card, immediately. Prior to this, Visa’s tough proof-of-identification registration policies have automatically excluded many people India, but by using widely-issued Aadhaar numbers as valid identification, the spread is much greater.

Prime Minister’s ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy inaugurated the process on Wednesday by registering a SIM for himself.

“Bangladesh is the second country in the world to introduce this and I am proud of it,” he told a ceremony at the telecoms ministry.

A SIM card by state-owned operator Teletalk was issued to Joy, the prime minister’s son and her adviser.

"We do have some problems with regard to foreign students.

"We are currently in discussions with the Education Ministry to adopt the biometric identity card with security features such as barcode and RIFD chip for foreign students here," he told reporters at a press conference in Parliament lobby.

BOPS comprises a set of rules that govern secure communications among a variety of client devices including mobile phones, desktop computers and ATMs, among others, and a trusted server managing the acquisition and manipulation of biometric data captured by those devices.

Reported in the Deccan Herald, this registration system is a Karnataka Ayurveda and Unani Practitioners (KAUP) Board objective.

“This initiative should be extended to other forms of medicine also, which will keep the quacks at bay,” Shettar said.

Without the biometric system, many visitors use fake addresses and names to exceed the prison’s weekly visitation allowance of one visit per week.

Authorities hope that the new biometric system will help reduce the volume of contraband items being transferred to the prison, which are believed to be largely facilitated by unidentified visitors.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez this total is the highest ever recorded to participate in the country’s elections. According to a report in ABSCBNnews.com, the first automated polls in the Philippines in 2010 saw nearly 51 million voters register.

According to a report in Bernama.com, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior recently announced that as many as 2.2 million Cambodians have already received the new ID cards in the first phase of issuance, and another 5.5 million will get the new IDs soon.

As of yet, its unclear which company is assisting the country in the rollout of this program.

On July 15, the first copy of the biometric passport with the technical specifications of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) was issued. The information emerged from a final preparatory meeting for the launch of the travel document in Yaoundé on Monday, chaired by the Secretary General of National Security, (DGSN) Victor Ndocki. Up to July 26, the DGSN said 5,000 of such documents have been issued.

The Gillard Government’s new privacy legislation has removed the ban on biometric data being handed to crime-fighting agencies. Officials suggest the lifting of this ban could be of immense benefit in fighting crime.

According to a report in the Deccan Herald, the bogus cards were created by the food and civil supplies department deputy director in collusion with three fair price shop owners as well as the biometric franchisee.

In February, the European Commission proposed the biometric entry and exit system, as itnews.au reports. In 2008, the commission began working on automated systems to track visa-exempt travelers, relying on eGates, rather than the existing stamp system.

The technology behind the EasyPASS gate is based on facial recognition and operates in two stages. After passing the first gate, passenger’s faces are scanned and identity is verified through comparison with the photo included in the passport. Once identity is verified, a gate opens and the passenger can walk though, having completed the process. The system takes an average of 18 seconds to complete.

The report, The Global Government Biometric Systems Market 2014-2024, now available through RnRMarketResearch.com, expects market growth at a CAGR of 6.88%, driven primarily by the central role being played by the requirement for verification of digital identity. This includes ePassports and national identity card programs.

In the next few years, each man, woman and child will receive an “Aadhaar” (meaning: foundation) 12-digit unique identification number. For the poor in India, this would end a vicious cycle where a person cannot prove who they are, and thus they are denied what they are supposed to receive. Now, using the features of the body, technology can identify someone in a matter of seconds. There will no longer be a need for passports, driver licenses, or other old school paper based identification.

Once this objective is off the ground, the Indian Home Ministry will make it mandatory for visa applicants from the United States and the United Kingdom to provide all 10 fingerprints to build the database, hindustantimes reports.

On January 14, the World Bank reported that India had saved around 1 billion USD in a year by using Aadhaar as a digital economic platform.

Here are some points you need to know:

• The World Bank report states that India saved around 1 billion USD by transferring fuel subsidy directly to user's bank account with the help of Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)
• The direct transfer has reduced the loss of money through middlemen and agencies taking a toll on the transfer
• The plan also helped to reduce leakage and improved efficient gains
• The World Bank report also pointed out that the government can save up to 11 billion USD if it expands the DBT to other subsidy facilities
• The report was put forward in the World Bank publication, World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends, which was recently released in Washington DC, USA.