By Robert A. Emmanuel
Harold Lovell, the Political Leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), assured the public that his party’s plans to introduce a National Electronic Identification (EID) card will not pose any security risks.
The UPP officially launched its election manifesto yesterday which reveals the plans and policies it intends to implement if it wins next week’s general election.
The country’s main opposition party said the card will store a person’s “name, date of birth, medical records, allergies, next of kin and other information, including Social Security, Medical Benefits, driver’s licence, other health information, and will empower cashless payments of government and other services”.
However, one concern is that the technology raises significant security risks as hackers could easily gain access to sensitive personal data contained in the EID card.
Pressed further on how the UPP plans to address this concern, Lovell said they would collaborate with the technicians in the various government ministries to ensure that security would not be a concern.
“The technical details will be worked out by the technicians; the broad idea is not new, there is at least 100 countries in the world that have one national ID card, so we would be merely joining the line,” he said.
National electronic identification cards have been introduced in several European countries, such as Croatia, Italy, Spain and Germany, as well as Turkey, Israel, Mexico and Costa Rica.
“I believe that most of these countries would have had to address and take questions of security, convenience and other issues, but it is not our intention to reinvent the wheel but … to look at the best practices,” he said.
The proposed EID card will also allow people to sign up for volunteerism, access public services and information, participate in online voting on certain issues, and to complain or report on issues with service delivery or broken infrastructure.
The card will also “introduce greater work flexibility in the public service” through remote work and minimum hours per week.
“Every public worker will be equipped with a smart card and ID which enables them to log in and log out of the Smart Work System,” the document stated.
Lovell explained that the crux of the creation of an online voting system was “broadening democracy in Antigua and Barbuda”.
“The idea was to use modern technology to tap into the views and opinions of everyone,” he added.
