Biometric ID and polygamy in Indonesia

Rampant polygamy leads to fraudulent e-IDs: Minister (Jakarta Post)

Their attempts to make more than one e-ID, could have been foiled although some of them tried to trick officials by producing different names, signatures, and birthplaces.

“Some tried to change their appearance, by donning fake beards for instance,” Gamawan said.

Some of the applicants, however, simply wanted to test the new system.

Gamawan said that those people were curious about whether the e-ID system was capable of preventing fraudulent practices.

“But they were unable to do so because the online e-ID registration system prevented them from using the same fingerprints more than once,” Gamawan said.

You never know what you'll find when better ID management techniques are applied.

One million Indonesians receive e-ID cards

Indonesia - Officials have handed out about 1 million of 4.6 million e-ID cards that are ready for distribution, Jakarta Civil Registration Agency chief Purba Hutapea said on Tuesday. (Asia One)

Jakarta to Regularize Internal Indonesian Migrants

A lot of government funding for services is tied to how many people are living in a particular geography. In Indonesia, it looks like you're supposed to ask permission/tell the government when you change your residence.

City to embrace newcomers as legal residents (The Jakarta Post)

As part of the data collection process, residents were to visit their local subdistrict offices to provide basic information and have their biometric data recorded. The information would then be sent to the ministry database to be validated.

The e-ID program was scheduled for all 267 subdistrict offices in Jakarta and 197 regencies and municipalities across the country, in the middle of last year.

The central government has targeted to establish a single identity number for every citizen and distribute e-ID cards to more than 105 million citizens by the end of 2012.

The electronic card will have a chip that contains information on marital status, blood type, parent names, employment, disabilities, birth and divorce certificate, and date of birth among others.

Indonesia: ID, E-ID and Ministerial Competence

E-ID: Ambitious but ambiguous mega project (The Jakarta Post)

A 16-digit NIK serial number is used to identify one person among 237 million Indonesian citizens. It is a digital identification number for every resident that can facilitate services related to immigration, taxation, banking, insurance, population census for elections and ID cards. In other words, NIK is a basic citizen administration database used in several administration documents.

Regarding the main advantage of the program, the ministry argues that the electronic card, which is embedded with an eye biometric system and fingerprint detection will guarantee that every Indonesian citizen will hold only one ID card, because no one can share similar irises or fingerprints. It is true that every fingerprint and iris is unique, but it does not always mean that double citizen cards cannot happen.

Nevertheless, there is always a chance for a person to hold double or triple ID cards because the NIK system in the country remains in a mess.

The previous post deals with acceptable rates of inaccuracy in the determination of an individual's identity in a biometric national ID program. The above article invites questions about how much government inefficiency can be tolerated in the data collection.

Morning News Round-up

Uganda: Using Biometrics to Ease Processes of Identification (TMCNet)

Ukrainian Christians protest against biometric data law (Monsters & Critics)

Indonesia: Jakarta wants new deadline for e-ID project (The Jakarta Post)

Pennsylvania: Luzerne County workforce begins using new biometric time clock system (Citizens Voice)

New Mexico: Border Patrol agents using IAFIS nab sex offender (Las Cruces Sun-News)

China: E-payment booms (Guardian.co.uk)
Use your fingerprint to buy a bowl of noodles for half off at 10 yuan ($1.60).

Jakarta, Indonesia: 7 of city's 9 million residents expected to get biometric ID cards (The Jakarta Post)

Mauritania: Minorities not too keen on biometric census (AFP)