The ID card, launched a couple of years ago storing cardholder fingerprints, will add the second biometric identifier in mid-2007, according to Dubai’s Xpress newspaper. That’s when the UAE will also begin enrolling the bulk of its expatriates, who do most of the work in this Persian Gulf state. An estimated 80% of the UAE’s population of 5 million is made up of foreign workers. These include workers from the Indian subcontinent, who mainly do manual labor.
Many of these laborers have rough hands, so fingerprint biometrics don’t work well, the paper quotes Mohammad Masoud Al Mazroui, director of the population registration unit at the Emirates Identity Authority. Iris scans are also better for older people, whose fingerprints may have worn down, he’s quoted as saying.
The state has introduced the ID card to help secure its borders, reduce identity theft and keep better track of the expats. It’s an ambitious project: Besides serving as a residence and labor card, plans call for the ID to also double as a health card, e-passport within the Gulf region and as an ATM and e-purse card. The government also wants cardholders to eventually use the cards to authenticate themselves when they conduct e-government services. The cards will carry not one but two 64-kilobyte chips, according to the paper.
While past attempts at multiapplication ID cards have largely flopped, (read Malaysia’s Mykad) governments are still pushing the concept, and the Gulf region appears to be among the most serious.
Quelle/Source: Card Technology, 23.04.2007
