Asia leading adoption of biometric national IDs

National biometric ID programs have been implemented in a number of countries. These projects are controversial. Naysayers point to the privacy problems and security risks associated with the large amount of personal information collected by the government, which includes physical characteristics such as pictures, fingerprints, iris, etc. Nonetheless, adoption of biometric solutions for national ID and other national projects (e.g., election voter registration) is still ongoing. “When compared to other regions, Asian countries are at the forefront of using biometric identification for national ID programs (and of course many other uses). Malaysia, Hong Kong, and several other Asian countries have similar capabilities and are ahead of or at least on par with, mainly European, challengers in the area of biometric national IDs,” said Daniel Bachenheimer, Unique Identity Services, Global Lead at Accenture.

Fingerprint and Facial Most adopted
The most common, and required, biometrics technologies used in Asian (and global) national IDs are fingerprint and facial biometrics — often the requirements of international bodies, too. For example, the ICAO standard for electronic machine-readable travel documents (eMRTDs) mandates inclusion of a facial image with the option of including finger and/or iris biometric images. David Gerulski, VP at Integrated Biometrics, explained that Asian countries are ahead of their Western counterparts due to their ability to build out biometric systems in greenfield applications, as opposed to having to replace previous technology.

It is interesting to note, that in many cases the countries adopting the most advanced biometric solutions are still considered developing countries. “Identity management programs employing biometrics offer real benefits in countries that have undocumented citizens,” explained Gerulski. “Better than an ID card, biometrics ensures that social services are being provided to the proper citizens.”

Young Moon, VP at Suprema, voiced a similar opinion. “Biometric national IDs have been recognized as one of the most efficient identification methods for multiple purposes such as fair elections and unbiased welfare payments. It could help governments put their affordable budget in a right place through biometric-based identification.”

The unique identification made possible through biometrics helps governments fight fraud and graft, which are rife in situations where a person’s identity cannot be established easily, or where regular IDs can be easily forged. Recently, in a move aimed to restrict criminal and terrorist activity, Bangladesh announced that every SIM card owner in the country would be asked to verify their identity by providing their fingerprint, which will be checked against the fingerprint data associated with their national identification.

Despite the controversy over privacy issues, the expansion of using biometric data has been valuable. “ID cards from the dead can no longer be used to receive social services payments, voters are only allowed to vote once, and government officials must actually come to work to receive a salary,” explained Gerulski, who gave an example of “ghost teachers” in Pakistan. In the past, some teachers in rural areas would continue to receive government payments even though they were no longer holding classes. “Pakistan is now saving millions of rupees requiring teachers to be enrolled through fingerprints to receive payments,” he added.

While contact fingerprint scanners and facial imagers continue to dominate the market, stand-off iris and contactless fingerprint scanner technology is expected to gain market share.