The government has consistently maintained that the National Identification System (NIDS) will be voluntary, but one senior educator has questioned this stance in light of the fact that financial institutions, businesses and even educational facilities will not be prevented from making it compulsory for future transactions.
Joseph Buckland, a lecturer at Jamaica School of Preaching and Biblical Studies International said he has several concerns about NIDS, based on his review of the new regulations that were made public earlier this year. He noted that while the legislation states that the NIDS will be voluntary, it may in practice become compulsory.
“How voluntary is it going to be if the banks make the national identification card a requirement for doing business with them? How voluntary is it going to be if private sector businesses make the national identification card a requirement for transacting business with them? How voluntary is it going to be if educational institutions make the national identification card a requirement for registering students?” he asked.
He recommends that the government include in the legislation, a stipulation that banks, private sector businesses and educational institutions cannot make the NIDS compulsory for transactions.
“If this is not done, then the Government of Jamaica will be using the banks, private sector businesses and educational institutions to help them get around one of the legal objections that led to the original NIDS legislation being declared “unconstitutional” namely, that NIDS should not be compulsory,” he stated.
Private businesses may require NIDS
Buckland, a Church of Christ minister, believes the government has placed itself in an advantageous position to argue that it made it voluntary, but the banks, private sector businesses and educational institutions have made it compulsory.
The government has consistently maintained that the NIDS will make it much easier for people to do business in Jamaica, but in 2019, the Constitutional Court struck down the NIDS Act on the basis that it breached the rights of Jamaicans to privacy as is guaranteed by the constitution. Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for the NIDS, Floyd Green, assured that the government have made several changes since then.
“The NIDS legislation now is a brand new legislation that for example says that the National Identification System is a voluntary programme, so nobody is mandated to become a part of the national ID, you are not mandated to get a national identification card, it is voluntary and you will voluntarily sign up to become a part of the process,” he assured the Freedom Come Rain newspaper.
He said this will be a guarantee at government facilities, but the government cannot determine what happens at private businesses.
Government cannot mandate what happens at private companies
“The government is unable to indicate what private sector companies will do in terms of requirement, so for example, as it is now, the government does not say to a bank, you should ask for two pieces of identification or you should get a letter from the Justice of the Peace or things of that nature. So a private entity will look at its processes and will determine what they think is in the best interest of the entity in relation to its process. So I couldn’t speak to what private companies may or may not do,” he insisted, before adding, “You have to be careful of how you ask government to mandate what happens in private, it is a very thin line.”
However, Prime Minister Andrew Holness had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with deposit-taking institutions to participate in the pilot of the NIDS June last year. In his remarks at the signing which was held at the Office of the Prime Minister, Holness stressed that NIDS will advance Jamaica’s quest to become a digital society. He said the partnership with the bank would ensure that there is a simplified process when opening bank accounts using the national identity verification and authentication system.
Social exclusion
Buckland believes that those who opt not to voluntarily sign up for the NIDS will be deprived of basic necessities eventually like food and clothing, given the lack of effort by the government to ensure that it does not become compulsory for citizens.
“If the banks were to require the national identification card to do deposits or withdrawals from them, then if you do not have the card, you will not be able to access your money. If the supermarkets were to require the national identification card, you will not be able to buy groceries without it. If clothing stores were to require the national identification card, you will not be able to buy clothes. If shoe stores were to require the national identification card, you will not be able to buy shoes,” he said.
Some Jamaicans still remember the social exclusion experienced during the height of the COVID-19, when it became mandatory to get vaccinated in order to travel and in some cases to maintain one’s job. Buckland is of the belief that the NIDS will become apart of an International Identification System. The initial design and development of NIDS was financed with a US$68 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank.
International influence
“Jamaica is not doing this by itself. The United Nations and International financial institutions have been pushing for a worldwide electronic ID, which they thought would have been a reality in 2020,” he noted.
Buckland is not the only one who has concerns. Veronica Arroyo, policy analyst for Latin America and the Digital ID Policy Lead at Access Now, noted that while it was encouraging to see legislators consider and include several civil society recommendations, she believes they did not take the process of public consultation seriously enough. She noted a failure on the part of government to take advantage of civil society expertise and in some cases treated these engagements as more of a box-ticking exercise than anything else.
“As we’ve seen in India and elsewhere, digital identification systems can become tools that exclude. As a recent NYU research paper points out, even when digital identification systems are promoted or positioned by development agencies and banks as voluntary or optional, they can quickly become a core component of everyday life. When such digital public infrastructure systems provide people with an “economic” or “transactional” identity that is used everywhere, and they are the only option available, they become mandatory in practice, if not in law. That’s not good if you don’t have a digital ID, can’t get one, or don’t want to enroll,” she noted in an article posted on Access Now website in August 2022.
Buckland said he was at home watching the television one evening with his wife when he saw an advertisement about the NIDS inviting persons to give feedback. He said he went to the website and read the 63-page document and noted five concerns, however, he was unable to give his feedback in the section provided despite several attempts. He said he tried to register his concerns prior to the slated deadline for feedback.
Draft regulations
The draft regulations governing the implementation of the NIDS were laid in the House of Representatives on January 10 by Green. Jamaicans were urged at the time to read the Regulations, and provide feedback to the Office of the Prime Minister, the NIDS project executing team or at customercare@nids.gov.jm. Persons were given until February 21 to make submissions. That widow is now closed.
Green said the concerns are being addressed in frequently asked questions promotional videos which are being shown to different groups of people as the NIDS team roll out its communication campaign. The government official said there have been meetings with custoses, pastors from different denominations and students in recent weeks. The government intends to intensify this campaign in the coming months as it tries get public buy-in.
The government is also simultaneously undertaking a NIDS pilot which will allow them to test the system ahead of the national roll-out. Green said the intention will not be to force people to sign up for it, but to show them how doing so will make their lives easier.