Concerns, misgivings, unease aside, e-NIC

set to invade individual privacy

By Chandani Kirinde-Sunday, August 31, 2014
The data collection programme of all Sri Lankas
citizens over the age of !, "ith a vie" to esta#lishing a data#ase, some of "hich
"ould #e included in an electronic National Identity Card $e-NIC%, has dra"n criticism
from &pposition legislators' They say it "ould lead to an invasion
of individual privacy, "hich a senior (overnment official in charge of the programme,
refutes, saying the data collected "ould #enefit a ma)ority of the people'
The programme is aimed at creating a national persons registry "hich "ill include
personal information, #iometrics and photographs of around ! million Sri Lankans'
*o"ever, +uestions have #een raised as to the legitimacy of seeking very personal
information from individuals' The application form printed #y the ,epartment of
-egistration of .ersons, /Initial -egistration0 -e-registration for an electronic NIC, a
copy of "hich "as o#tained #y the Sunday Times, re+uires people to divulge their
phone num#ers, e-mail address and also makes it #inding for people to give
an undertaking to
keep authorities informed in the /event of a ne" child#irth, changes in civil status such
as marriage, divorce, separation or ordination of any person in my family'1 .eople are
also re+uired to inform if they adopt a child'
2hile the data collection gets under "ay, the amendment to the -egistration of
.ersons 3ct No 45 of 678, "hich "as amended t"ice in 69, has also #een drafted
to allo" for the issuing of an e-NIC, #ut some sections in it, such as one "hich
re+uires the Commissioner (eneral to divulge details of individuals, in relation to
threats to national security, has also raised concerns'
Commissioner (eneral of the -egistration of .ersons -':'S' Sarath ;umara told the
Sunday Times that the programme commenced as a pilot pro)ect this "eek in 59
(rama Sevaka ,ivisions in the Southern .rovince #efore it is implemented island"ide'
/3s some persons have e<pressed reservations a#out #eing asked to divulge personal
information, "e "ill see the feed#ack from the pilot pro)ect, #efore the island"ide
programme #egins,1 he said'*o"ever, the decision to start the pilot pro)ect has #een
taken after initial plans to start the programme island "ide had to #e shelved due to
the concerns e<pressed regarding the nature of the pro)ect'
(alle ,istrict Independent :. 3)ith ;umara "ho raised the e-NIC matter #y "ay of an
ad)ournment de#ate in the *ouse last "eek, said that he fears the information
o#tained of individuals, could #e used against those "ho are anti-esta#lishment'
/.eople are re+uired to give all their = fingerprints as part of this application process'
>arlier, only criminals "ere fingerprinted, #ut no", every citizen of this country over !
"ill #e fingerprinted and their data kept in a #ase "hich "ould #e accessi#le to the
authorities at the press of a #utton,1 he said'
2hile all the information that people are asked to divulge "ill not #e included in the e-
NIC, the information is to #e stored in an electronic data #ank in "hich the fingerprint
data "ill also #e stored' 12hen the e<isting NIC "as issued in 695, there "ere many
fears e<pressed, including allegations that the programme "as undertaken at the
#ehest of various foreign intelligence agencies, #ut they "ere unfounded' Similarly, in
the long run, the e-NIC "ill prove more #eneficial to the people than a disadvantage,1
:r ;umara said'
&ne o#)ective of the ne" data#ase creation is to #uild a /family tree1 for the countrys
citizens' Though the application states that it is not mandatory for people to include
information of their parents, si#lings and offspring in it, there is provision to include the
names, dates of #irth and NIC num#ers of family mem#ers'
3lso, according to the proposed amendments to the -egistration of .ersons 3ct, the
Commissioner (eneral "ill #e re+uired to provide information of individuals from the
data#ase in instances "here it is needed in relation to national security and pu#lic
interest, as "ell as to prevent crimes and apprehend criminals'
There is also provision in the proposed amendments to e<empt individuals or a group
of persons from provisions of the amendments of this 3ct, if such is necessary for
national security'
The ,irector (eneral admitted that concerns have #een raised a#out such matters,
#ut said the programme "ould #e advantageous to 8= per cent of the people' /La"
a#iding citizens of tie country have nothing to fear' It is those "ho are engaged in
illegal activities "ho "ill #e disadvantaged #y the assimilation of such information, as it
"ould #e easier to prevent frauds and other illegal activities,1 he said'
,espite the concerns, the ,epartment has already set up 44 regional offices for the
data collection process and the necessary e+uipment too has #een provided for the
purpose' The ,epartment has also issued !,!== hand#ooks
to (rama Sevaka
Niladharis, "hile
4= separate
posters have #een
printed in Sinhala,
Tamil and >nglish
to pu#licise the
ne" programme'
The e+uipment
needed to gather
fingerprints has
also #een
purchased and
distri#uted to all the (N divisions, "hile the security stickers needed for this purpose
too have #een manufactured' To date, ?,=55 (rama Sevaka Niladharis have #een
trained to take fingerprints, "hile ,8== photographers have #een selected to take
photographs for the e-NIC' 3s part of this programme, a Secretariat for .ersons
Identification $S.I% too is #eing esta#lished in @attaramulla'
Not everyone is convinced that the collected data "ill #e safe and "ill al"ays #e in the
right hands' /2e have no data protection la"s, nor do "e have enough la"s to
safeguard the privacy of individuals' In the a#sence of these safeguards, such vital
information could fall into the "rong hands and #e used in a harmful manner,1 "arned
AN. National List :. >ran 2ickramaratna'
The Commissioner (eneral said that the e-NIC "ould help prevent forgeries to a great
e<tent, and "ould help e<pedite providing government services and #anking services'
*e added that the collection process "ould #e completed #y end 5=!, "ith the
issuing of the e-NIC commencing from 5=7'
Posters that have come up against the proposed NIC.
Gotas rationale to e-NIC through PRISM
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in an article, Sri Lanka National
Security, published in the latest issue of USbased Defence journal !R"S#,
has referred to the ne$, soontobeintroduced N"% syste& that uses
bio&etric infor&ation'
Re(ardin( internal security, the national identity syste& has been
si(ni)cantly i&pro*ed' +ecause, pre*iously, it $as a &anual, paperbased
syste&, cri&inal and terrorist ele&ents could easily obtain for(ed identity
cards' ,his enabled terrorists to operate throu(hout Sri Lanka under
*arious na&es and aliases' ,o address this critical $eakness, the Re(ister
of !ersons Depart&ent $as brou(ht under the #inistry of Defense and
Urban De*elop&ent, and a ne$ N"% syste& usin( bio&etric infor&ation $ill
soon be introduced, he stated in the article'
,he Defence Secretary also said Sri Lanka today faces a ran(e of security
threats $orthy of concern, and identi)ed a fe$ of the&'
,hese include the possible ree&er(ence of terroris&, the e&er(ence of
other e-tre&ist (roups, the $orsenin( of ethnic di*isions and co&&unal
*iolence, the challen(es of &ariti&e security and border control, the
(ro$th of or(anised cri&e, forei(n interference in do&estic a.airs and non
traditional technolo(ydri*en threats, includin( social &edia'
!R"S#, published by the %enter for %o&ple- /perations, is a security
studies journal chartered to infor& &e&bers of U'S' 0ederal 1(encies,
1llies, and other partners on co&ple- and inte(rated national security
operations2 reconstruction and nation buildin(2 rele*ant policy and
strate(y2 lessons learned2 and de*elop&ents in trainin( and education to
transfor& 1&ericas security and de*elop&ent apparatus to &eet
to&orro$s challen(es better, $hile pro&otin( freedo& today'
Posted by Thavam