The Andrew Holness-led government had first attempted to pass the National Identification and Registration Act in 2017, but the Act was unanimously rejected and deemed unconstitutional by Jamaica’s Supreme Court because it was found to violate citizens’ rights, particularly the right to privacy. The Holness administration has since implemented a new NIDS Act with the promise that it will be voluntary, although many argue that persons will eventually have no other choice but to accept the controversial ID card in order to effectively engage government services. It is also obvious that the prime minister does not share the court’s view on the issue of citizens’ rights.
“Now, there is a confusion in the minds of many of our citizens that anonymity and privacy are the same thing. They’re not. If you want to get a benefit from the government, you cannot be anonymous. If you are anonymous, how can we account for you? But if you don’t want the public to know that you got a benefit, then that can be private. And so the system that we are trying to build is one that will preserve your privacy but enhance accountability, and I hope that clarifies that in the minds of many suspicious or sceptical Jamaicans,” he argued during the RJI launch on August 5.
Under NIDS, each citizen will be provided with a randomised nine-digit National Identification Number (NIN), which they will have for life. This will support multiple purposes in the public and private sectors.
Jamaica is among several countries rushing to implement the digital ID in keeping with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9. It involves the creation of a single unique identifier for every person, which includes demographic and biometric data such as fingerprints and iris scans. However, there are concerns that without adequate institutional safeguards and well-established democratic practices, such a system can result in a greater concentration of power in the hands of government and can also be misused.
As of 2016, all but 12 of the world’s low- and middle-income countries have launched a national identity programme, including every country in sub-Saharan Africa. While Kenya, Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe have relatively high coverage of their identity programmes, other countries have little to show despite substantial investments.
Jamaica is expected to be the first Caribbean country to roll out NIDS. The deadline for roll-out is 2024, but it was only last week that the first two Jamaicans actually received NID cards. These two individuals are the country’s Governor General, Sir Patrick Allen, and Holness as Prime Minister.
During the official launch of the National Identification Registration Authority and the issuance of the NIDS Card last week [November 15], Holness encouraged Jamaicans to get the card.
“We have several identification documents. We have passports, we have our electoral ID, we have our driver’s license, but as you would have seen earlier in the demonstrations that we had a chance to observe, none of them have the level of security that this card gives. But this card also gives an additional benefit. It allows for the conduct of digital transactions in a seamless way because it allows for digital electronic verification of the card, and that places us now in another step, which we call the digital society. So, the NIDS provides the basis on which we can now claim to be a digital society,” he said.
“The digital society is one in which we are able to conduct transactions physically in person or virtually. And in fact, as all Jamaicans will see, most transactions are moving onto digital platforms. We conduct our transactions using digital platforms every day, whether it is we shop online, we pay taxes online, but with your digital ID, you will be able to do much more,” the prime minister assured.