Sri Lanka to Adopt Unitary Electronic Identification Comparable to Aadhaar: Report

The governing administration of Sri Lanka has decided to speed up the implementation of a Unitary Digital Id framework in the region. The personal identification verification software is a electronic tool that can be utilized to establish people today in cyberspace, in accordance to the authorities. The authorities of India experienced earlier agreed to supply a grant to apply the Unitary Digital Identity framework, immediately after bilateral talks among the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Indian Key Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.

According to a checklist of cabinet conclusions posted on February 7, spotted by The Register, the Sri Lankan federal government has decided to prioritise the implementation of a Unitary Electronic Identification for citizens of the region. The government web site states that the proposed Unitary Electronic Id Framework is a “personal identity verification device dependent on biometric info,” or a digital instrument that can be applied to “represent the identities of people today in cyberspace, and the identification of particular person identities that can be correctly verified in digital and physical environments” by combining the two devices.

The government’s web-site further more states that the govt of India agreed to provide a grant to apply the Unitary Electronic Identity framework soon after bilateral talks among President Rajapaksa and PM Modi in 2019. The website does not specify the worth of the grant, or whether it includes transfer of technology from the govt of India’s Aadhaar application that assigns a unique 12-digit variety to inhabitants of India. The Sri Lankan governing administration is but to reveal a timeline for the implementation of the digital identity framework.

The Unitary Digital Identity appears identical to the federal government of India’s Aadhaar biometric-based digital identity verification method used to acquire access to general public welfare schemes. Aadhaar is managed by the One of a kind Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and people can authenticate their identification with fingerprints and iris scans. In 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the Aadhaar Act, authorising the use of the process for welfare schemes though restricting its use in the non-public sector. Over the years, Aadhaar has slowly turn into an optional indicates of verifying identification when accessing non-public companies these types of as paying for a cellular SIM card, or when opening a financial institution account.

Even though Aadhaar has facilitated the Public Distribution System (PDS) for authorities expert services and subsidies in India, the technique has also confronted criticism for many protection lapses that have influenced the system. In 2017, Aadhaar facts of around 1.6 million citizens had been reportedly leaked on a internet site maintained by the Jharkhand Directorate of Social Security. The following year, the UIDAI reportedly limited obtain of 5,000 designated officials to the Aadhaar portal, immediately after stories that Aadhaar particulars could be attained for Rs. 500. It remains to be noticed no matter if the Sri Lankan governing administration faces comparable criticism all through the implementation of its Unitary Electronic Id in the nation.