Mixed reactions greet new measures on National Identity

By OBUTE JAMES

Following the announcement by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) that it was dumping plastic ID cards for digital identification, several quarters have expressed divergent views on the issue.

The decision is based on the report of Citizen Data Management and Harmonisation Committee chaired by the Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja recently. The committee was set up in February following the imposition of temporary visa restrictions on Nigerian passport holders by the United States.

Briefing journalists after submitting the report, Aregbesola said henceforth, holding cards would only be a matter of convenience, as only the issuance or possession of identification number would be mandatory. According to him, once a national identification number (NIN) is issued to anyone, he is already captured in the data bank domiciled with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and can be tracked anywhere.

“The card is just for convenience; the real thing is the number you have. With that number, you are on the databank. Everything about you is there. We are just upgrading it such that your DNA too will be there very soon. Even if you are in a car, I will know if you are the one in the car with your DNA. It’s already captured. You are already captured, you cannot run away anymore,” he said.

Minister of Digital Communications, Dr. Ali Pantami, also hinted the era of card issuance was gone, adding that the emphasis is now on digital identification. He stressed the need for people with digital identification to comprehend their numbers, adding that the digital identification number is already introduced into the international passport issuance.

The Director-General of NIMC, Mr. Aliyu Azeez, who explained that the newly-introduced digital identification is otherwise known as social security in the US and the United Kingdom, said 1.3 billion people could be controlled by digital identification in just about seven minutes.

He added that digital identification would save foreign exchange while other forms of identifications by relevant agencies have equally been linked to NIMC. “With your national ID, you are already identified. In the US, it is called social security number, the same with the UK and among others. They can control more than 1.3 billion people in about seven minutes. So, we have found that this card is strenuous.

“It is forex that is going out of the country, and we are in the 21st century and that is why we are focusing on national identification number and other identifications by other agencies have been linked to NIMC,” Azeez said.

However, several people have raised a lot of question on the security and credibility of the Apps being used for the exercise. Some Twitter users shared a link to the application wherein Nigerians can download and print out their NIMC issued national ID cards. They also shared screenshots of their downloaded national identity cards. “For Those Who Have Successfully Registered For National Identity Number (NIN), kindly Use This Excellent Medium To Eliminate Wait Time & Expense For National ID Cards.

“Download App On Link Below, Input NIN Number & Mobile Number Then Print. 🇳🇬https://t.co/fGCHN4f2Fr pic.twitter.com/SqCnwgIruG — Ajuri Ngelale (@AjuriNgelale) August 15, 2020. While some users successfully downloaded their digital identity cards, others lodged various complaints about flaws — including wrong identities and glitches on the NIMC platform.

A civil society organisation, Laws and Rights Awareness Initiative also tasked the Federal High Court in Abeokuta to stop the digital identification cards being introduced by the National Identity Management Commission to replace the plastic national ID cards. In the suit, the Incorporated Trustees of the LRAI contended that the NIMC software was not secure and would breach the rights of Nigerians to privacy under Section 37 of the Constitution.

Counsel for the CSO, Olumide Babalola, told the court that the NIMC neglected to conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment before embarking on the digital identification project. He added that the NIMC also failed to file a data protection compliance audit report with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) before uploading the personal data of Nigerians on “their insecure software application.”

One Adedayo Ade-Rufus, who disposed to an affidavit in support of the suit, alleged that “barely 48 hours after the release of the software by the respondent, Nigerian data subjects started complaining on social media about data breach and malfunctioning of the respondent’s software application as well as the leakage of their personal data to the entire world.”

He said the CSO suit was motivated specifically by the complaint of one Daniel John, whose personal data were among those uploaded by the NIMC “on a software application that can be downloaded on android and IOS devices.”

The CSO is praying the court to, among others, issue “a perpetual injunction, restraining the respondent from further releasing digital identity cards on their software application (NIMC app) or any other platform pending the independent report of external cyber security experts on the safety and security of the Respondent’s applications.”

Ade-Rufus remarked: “The respondent’s insecure software is in violation of its obligation to secure personal data against all hazards and breaches such as theft, cyber-attack, viral attack, dissemination, manipulations of any kind, damage by rain, fire or exposure to other natural elements. The respondent’s processing of Daniel John’s personal data, including sensitive data, with an insecure software application threatens his right to private and family life. The Respondent’s continuous processing without an external audit will further interfere with Daniel John’s right to privacy.”