UIN-Unique (Universal) Identification Number

[ChristineMarie]

A national identity card will deliver subsidies and even strengthen national security.



India does not know who you are. Since we do not have a national identity system, Indians are largely anonymous. A national identity system is a most valuable public good because it generates positive externalities in four major areas: (1) welfare delivery and tax collections, (2) financial inclusion, (3) voter registration, and (4) national security. Many countries such as the USA, UK, France, China, and even Pakistan have implemented national identity systems. The NDA government began the implementation of a universal system through a national identification number (NIN) and a multi-purpose national identity card (MNIC), but in the last five years we have made little progress. Given the massive benefits associated with such a system, we must roll it out nationally within the next two to three years.

Various identity systems are in use in India currently, but they are neither universal nor multi-purpose. Such systems include the voter identity card, PAN card, and the passport, which are all photo identity cards. The ration card has no photo identity and is generally used for families, not individuals. Different identity cards are used for central welfare schemes such as the BPL card, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY health insurance for BPL families), and the Employee State Insurance Card; in addition, there are a variety of cards issued by state governments. Recently, many financial institutions have issued their own identity cards linking their customers to multiple accounts such as a savings account, credit card, and vehicle loans.

A universal national identity system must include several elements: (1) total enumeration (assigning unique identity) of the population; (2) personalisation which would enable identification through photo and biometric markers; (3) registration at birth and at 18 years; (4) data management including a national register; and (5) integration with multiple other systems including credit records, government benefits, and voter management. A national identity card could either be delivered through a magnetic stripe card (just like a regular credit card); or better still, through a smart card that contains enough memory and processing capabilities to run multiple applications. A magnetic stripe card costs Rs 10-15 and a smart card costs about Rs 100. Each card would have a photo of the individual, biometric information, and some key data such as name, date of birth, parent’s name, and birth city.

The first major benefit associated with a national identity system is efficient welfare delivery and tax collection. The NIN could be linked with a bank account so that each citizen would have a government-mandated bank account. All welfare payments and tax collections could be made through this account and the identity card could be used either as a debit card (or a stored value card) against this bank account. These individual accounts would greatly streamline welfare delivery across a wide range of schemes such as mother-child support, kisan credit, student assistance, and micro credit. In fact, FINO (a pioneering company supported by several banks) has already issued two million cards to deliver financial services to “unbanked” customers. All welfare payments would be made through the bank account on a regular basis. In fact, such types of cash transfer schemes are generally considered to be much more efficient and less susceptible to corruption, than various indirect schemes such as the Ration card or the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

An entire payment processing system could be built to support these cards, so that each Indian could avail of these services. Imagine every store with a payment terminal. Once a customer makes a purchase, the storekeeper would swipe the card through the store’s terminal and debit either the stored value on the card or the customer’s actual bank account. To prevent fraud, biometric identification (such as thumbprint) or passcodes could be used to authenticate the individual. The NIN would also become the basis for storing credit histories, tracking borrowing and savings behaviour.

A national identity system would also be a powerful mechanism for financial inclusion as laid out in the recent Rajan Committee Report on Financial Sector Reforms. Since each individual will have a bank account and a credit history, it will make it possible for them to save and borrow money. Farmers could get bank credit for making agricultural investments and expanding into related businesses like, for instance, animal husbandry. By tying this system to land titles, farmers would also be able to borrow against their property thereby converting a very illiquid asset into a much more productive resource. Micro credit groups could be set up electronically immediately reducing the administrative burden associated with detailed cash record-keeping.

Universal voter registration is the third major benefit of a national identity system. Today the Election Commission of India voter identity card is one of the largest databases existing in India, with over 500-million cards with photos issued till date. A national identity card would have information on residential status and therefore voter registration. Citizens would have to go to a registration centre if they changed their residence and update the voter rolls.

Finally, a NIN system would be a powerful tool for strengthening national security. All citizens can be identified through a NIN, and it would therefore be easier to track illegal immigration. No mobile phones or bank accounts would be issued without the national identity card. If any mobile phone or bank account was then used for anti-national activities, security authorities would be able to trace it quickly to its owner. Electronic activity linked to a NIN would also leave electronic traces across many systems, making it easier to unravel conspiracies and collusive activities. Obviously, authorities would have to ensure that the identity card could not be easily forged or hacked into.

There are many ways to implement a national identity system, ranging from a centralised authority to decentralised issuance by several agencies linked by common standards and consolidated data sharing. But it is entirely doable. One of the best national systems has been installed by the Government of Pakistan. They have a universal smart-card for storing photo and fingerprint information, supported by a very robust centralised database and a network of local offices. A similar system must be implemented through a National Mission as soon as possible. Once India knows who you are, help can reach you.

The author is Managing Director of Courage Capital Management, a global investment firm. Views are personal

http://www.business-standard.com/ind.../00/21/342363/

[ChristineMarie]

Protecting identity is critical and is only going to become more important as time goes on, says former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Sec. Michael Chertoff.

In a speech at the University of Southern California National Center for Risk & Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events in August, Chertoff talked about how important identity can be.

“It lies at the core of a great deal of what we do protecting our financial security, our personal security, and our reputational security,” Chertoff said. “And what I’m referring to is how we manage and protect our personal identities because I’m going to submit to you that in the 21st Century, the most important asset that we have to protect as individuals and as part of our nation is the control of our identity, who we are, how we identify ourselves, whether other people are permitted to masquerade and pretend to be us, and thereby damage our livelihood, damage our assets, damage our reputation, damage our standing in our community.”

Identification online is also becoming important as more business is transacted over the Web. “Identity, more and more particularly with the use of the Internet for purposes of transacting business, lies at the heart of our entire financial and market system,” Chertoff says. “If we don’t know who you are, if we don’t know whether you are accurately representing your assets and your intentions over the Internet or even transacting business face to face, we introduce an element of risk into that business model.”

This eventually could impact the economy. “The entirety of our economic livelihood in the 21st Century is going to turn in large measure upon our ability to verify identity for those who want to transact business, and, finally, our reputation and our privacy depends on our ability to control our identity. If people can pretend to be us, if they can speak in our name in an unauthorized way, they can do great, perhaps irreversible, damage to our privacy or to our reputation and this again from a personal standpoint suggests that identity is increasingly going to become the asset that we have to be most careful to protect in the 21st Century where the ability to get information, move it around the world and store it indefinitely creates greater and greater risks to personal reputation and personal privacy.”

Chertoff gave some examples where identity theft-related issues have caused individuals and companies trouble. Illegal aliens making up Social Security numbers and working in the country illegally have caused problems. He cited one individual who received a letter from the IRS regarding $18,000 in unreported income.

“This person, however, had never worked in the company in question,” Chertoff said. “In fact, the company was on the other side of the country in North Carolina, and all of a sudden, they had an IRS problem that they had to clear up. So they hired a lawyer. They wanted to try to fix it. They kept getting more and more letters from the IRS. They had to try to contact authorities, this is in 2003 and 2004, to see if something could put an end to this individual who was impersonating the Californian and continuing to earn money, but, of course, it was the Californian who was being asked to pay the taxes.”

Chertoff says authenticating identity in different scenarios is going to become necessary. How do we know who people are online? He points to the Social Security number, passport and driver license as ways individuals are identified now, but there needs to be more.

“I like to say that the issue of identity authentication, determining that you are in fact the person you claim to be, really rests potentially on what I call the three Ds: description, device, and digit.”

(16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had (1) the mark, or (2)the name of the beast, or the (3) number of his name.

18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count (Compute)
the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Rev. 13:16-18)

Description is a piece of information known only by the individual. Device, in today’s world, would most likely be some type of card, but it can refer to other things as well. “A cell phone could be used as an identification device,” Chertoff says. As for digit, Chertoff says fingerprint biometrics are the third factor. “Your digit is unique. Your fingerprint is unique and the ability to use that as an identifier, as we do, for example, throughout the criminal justice system, gives us a third powerful tool that we can use in order to make sure that we can separate real people from impersonators.”

The future is using all three of these “Ds” together to authenticate identity. “The way forward is to work with all of these tools in combination, to take the ability to use some descriptive information, like a PIN, or some private information, a device like a card or perhaps a cell phone or other electronic device, perhaps with a token, and a biometric, like a digit which is easily used and concurrently be captured on a whole host of mobile devices, to combine these together, and I can envision a time in the not-too-distant future where, in order to authenticate yourself, whether it’s for purposes of getting on an airplane, whether it’s for purposes of transacting business at a bank, whether it’s for purposes of gaining entry into a student dormitory, that you will have some kind of device; it may be electronic, that will combine two or three of these three Ds, as I call them, to increase the ability to be secure in the knowledge that nobody else can duplicate your ability to identify yourself.”

The solution may not be perfect, but it’s better than what exists now, Chertoff says.

“There will be some people who will be so good that … they’ll steal your device, they’ll find a way to get your fingerprint and fabricate it and then they’ll somehow ferret out the piece of information and having assembled all these things, they’ll be able to impersonate you.” Chertoff says

“But, you know, nothing is perfect. If the test of any movement forward in a system were that the new system has to be perfect, we wouldn’t have airbags in automobiles. After all, the airbag is not perfect. If you run headlong into an 18-wheel tractor-trailer, that airbag is not going to help you. But in a lot of accidents, it will help you. So I’m arguing this is a 99% solution and in real life that’s a very good solution.”

http://www.secureidnews.com/2009/01/...n-21st-century

[ChristineMarie]

Academics should get unique ID numbers to better map their work, say researchers. Zoe Corbyn writes

Every academic in the world should be given a unique identification number, two US-based researchers have argued.

The number could be used to keep track of a scholar's complete publication record, from research papers and grant applications to internet blog posts.

The approach would ensure accuracy as metrics - numerical indicators such as how many times an academic's work is cited by others - become the dominant force in determining researchers' standing.

In an opinion piece entitled "I am not a scientist, I am a number", published last month in the PLoS Computational Biology journal, Philip E. Bourne and J. Lynn Fink from the University of California, San Diego argue that it is time to embrace such a system and scientists will soon "want" to be assigned a number.

"If you as an author can be uniquely identified, you can in principle be more accurately mapped to your scholarly output," they say.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.u...ode=405184&c=1

[ChristineMarie]

Sample System Implementation with RFID


(1) A RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) reader device can be integrated with UPITS system to provide patient tracking over limited distance. Eventually, this can be extended and implemented globally with satellite and/or cellular or any other suitable technology to allow unrestricted mobility and freedom to at-risk patients. In a typical application, the signal radiated by the remote chip is received by suitable radio/satellite channels and transmitted to a base station. Vital data retrieved from a medical/bioinformatics database is made available to rescue agencies. Relevant patient medical records can be accessed by the hospital or emergency room for advance preparedness. Sample RFID implementation is shown in FIG. 5 and the system flowchart is shown in FIG. 6. Besides RFID, 802.11 Wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or other suitable technologies can also be used to achieve patient tracking and monitoring on a local basis.
(2) The initial objective of this invention is to create an effective patient identification and bioinformatics/medical database, monitor, and track patient movement within certain premises. Since the UPITS system is independent of the underlying technology, eventually it can be extended all over the world by annexing these patient data to the UIN (Universal Identification Number). A unique identification number shall be issued to all those who apply for it through a single controlling agency or a combination of several agencies, who work in coordination with each other so that they all follow the same system and method to avoid any redundancy and confusion. Such coordinated efforts of interacting agencies shall organize to reach and cover every human being on the planet in a phased manner. (3) The unique identification number access code is internally mapped to authenticated data that has been received from the applicant. While the access code acts like the applicant's unique identification number, its internal mapping relates to three separate domains of data. Since the access code (PRN) is based on just the date and serial of check-in, complete privacy is maintained, yet providing the power and flexibility to identify the applicant when needed and provide all relevant information in times of a medical emergency.




http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2006/0155584.html

[ChristineMarie]

All Australians could be implanted with microchips for tracking and identification within the next two or three generations, a prominent academic says.

Michael G Michael from the University of Wollongong's School of Information Systems and Technology, has coined the term "uberveillance" to describe the emerging trend of all-encompassing surveillance.

"Uberveillance is not on the outside looking down, but on the inside looking out through a microchip that is embedded in our bodies," Dr Michael told ninemsn.

Microchips are commonly implanted into animals to reveal identification details when scanned and similar devices have been used with Alzheimers patients.

US company VeriChip is already using implantable microchips, which store a 16-digit unique identification number, on humans for medical purposes.

"Our focus is on high-risk patients, and our product's ability to identify them and their medical records in an emergency," spokesperson Allison Tomek said.

Chipping AIDS patients: Indonesian AIDS patients face microchip monitoring

NINIEK KARMINI
Originally published 11:56 a.m., November 24, 2008, updated 12:00 p.m., November 24, 2008

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (AP) - Lawmakers in Indonesia's remote province of Papua have thrown their support behind a controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted with microchips _ part of extreme efforts to monitor the disease.
Local health workers and AIDS activists called the plan "abhorrent."

more.......... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...hip-monitor-1/

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technolog...ith-microchips

[ChristineMarie]

The government is likely to kick start the Unique Identification (UID) Project by making a provision of Rs 100 crore for this ambitious programme in the interim Budget to be tabled tomorrow in the Lok Sabha.



UID project, a Planning Commission initative, envisages assigning a unique identification number to each resident in the country.

It aims at eliminating the need for multiple identification mechanisms prevalent across various government departments. The electoral roll database would initially be taken into consideration to form the starting core database.

"The database would be further augmented using other database of public distribution system and below poverty line in the first phase and other initiatives for creating new database," according to an official note.

UID Authority of India (UIDAI) was constituted and notified recently as an attached office under the aegis of the Planning Commission. It will function under the Chief UID Commissioner of India with a rank of a Central Information Commissioner of India.


http://www.business-standard.com/ind...18/25/55047/on

[ChristineMarie]

The Supreme Election Board (YSK), which has been attempting to address problems caused by its recent decision to require that voters have identification numbers on their identity cards to be eligible to vote in the upcoming local elections, announced yesterday that citizens who do not have identification numbers on their ID cards will be able to vote by showing their ID cards along with an official document carrying their ID number and an embossed stamp or hologram or a copy of their identity registry document.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/de...0118&bolum=100

[ChristineMarie]

Last week the province unveiled a new version of the Quebec driver's licence. Rather than a simple redesign, it's an enhanced offering meant to help with crossing into the U.S. by car or boat.
EXPLAINER GETS A LEARNER'S PERMIT ON THE NEW LICENCE.

1 Leadership has its privileges. Premier Jean Charest held a news conference last week to show off his brand new "driver's licence plus." He dragged a group of media people to a Canada-U.S. border town to drive home the point that this new license can help Quebecers drive across the border or enter the U.S. via a maritime port. (The new licence won't help you at the airport - you need a passport to fly into the U.S.) The American government is set to bring in new border regulations on June 1 that will make this licence or a passport the best way to get yourself across the U.S. border.

The major difference with "licence plus" is the inclusion of an electronic chip that contains a unique code. A border agent will scan the card
and the code will enable them to pull up your personal details. The chip, called a radio frequency identification chip, can be scanned from up to 10 metres away, so the SAAQ encourages people to keep the card "in the protective sleeve provided by the SAAQ." It also emphasizes that the chip only contains a number, not your personal information.

http://www.hour.ca/news/explainer.aspx?iIDArticle=16913

[ChristineMarie]

Using technology originally developed for mass disasters, Boston disease trackers are embarking on a novel experiment - one of the first in the country - aimed at eventually creating a citywide registry of everyone who has had a flu vaccination.

The resulting vaccination map would allow swift intervention in neighborhoods left vulnerable to the fast-moving respiratory illness.

The trial starts this afternoon, when several hundred people are expected to queue up for immunizations at the headquarters of the Boston Public Health Commission. Each of them will get a bracelet printed with a unique identifier code. Information about the vaccine's recipients, and the shot, will be entered into handheld devices similar to those used by delivery truck drivers.

Infectious disease specialists in Boston and elsewhere predicted that the registry approach could prove even more useful if something more sinister strikes: a bioterrorism attack or the long-feared arrival of a global flu epidemic. In such crises, the registry could be used to track who received a special vaccine or antidote to a deadly germ.

"Anything you can do to better pinpoint who's vaccinated and who's not, that's absolutely vital," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota. "I wish more cities were doing this kind of thing."

Boston is believed to be the first city to embrace this particular approach to tracking vaccinations against the seasonal flu, estimated to kill 36,000 people each year in the United States, principally the elderly.

"When there's a large catastrophic event, people end up in a variety of healthcare facilities," said Dr. Anita Barry, Boston's director of communicable disease control. "Of course, their family members and loved ones are trying to find out where they are and how they're doing."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...shot_tracking/

1. A system for unique human identification and associated method and steps to capture and store data and DNA samples related to issue of Universal Identification Number (UIN) and a subsequent retrieval process for human identification and tracking involving various applications viz. medical emergencies, public domain interest profile, and confidential data by authorized agencies.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2007/0072190.html

http://www.909shot.com/Loe_Fisher/blfTracking.htm


THE NATIONAL ELECTRONIC VACCINE TRACKING REGISTRY

Nowhere is this threat more evident than in the creation of a national, government operated vaccine tracking registry system that will tag all American citizens with a national ID number at birth and track their movements throughout life for the express purpose of enforcing vaccination with all government-endorsed vaccines. It was the desire by government health officials to enforce citizen compliance with mandatory vaccination laws that first created the need for a National ID number and the national electronic medical records database promoted by the Clinton Administration in 1993.

http://www.vaccineinfo.net/issues/tracking/index.shtml

http://www.hhs.gov/ocio/capitalplann...temvtrcks.html

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definit...ce-system.html

NEDSS was created to integrate and replace existing CDC surveillance systems, including the National Electronic Telecommunications System for Surveillance (NETSS), HIV/AIDS reporting systems, vaccination programs, and tracking systems for tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. Historically, such systems have been isolated from one another due to differing data standards, legacy systems, patient privacy concerns and a lack of tools for information exchange. According to the CDC, more than 100 different systems were used to transmit reports to the federal agency.

[ChristineMarie]

Ontario drivers who are Canadian citizens can now apply for the Ontario
Enhanced Driver's Licence.
Nine ServiceOntario centres are now accepting applications for this
passport alternative, which can be used at Canada-U.S. land and water border
crossings.
An enhanced driver's licence is completely optional, and is an additional
$40.00.

ABOUT ONTARIO'S ENHANCED DRIVER'S LICENCE

An Ontario enhanced driver's licence (EDL) contains the same information
as a regular Ontario driver's licence but also includes a machine readable
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip that denotes Canadian citizenship.
This additional information will allow the driver to use their EDL as a
passport alternative when entering the U.S. by land or water.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip is embedded into the card.
The chip contains only a unique identification number - there is no other
personal information on this chip. At the U.S. port of entry, an RFID reader
retrieves this number and transmits it to the U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) network. CBP then queries the Canada Border Services Agency
database in Canada, and the EDL information is then securely transmitted back
to the CBP.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../05/c8489.html