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Nigeria launched new national identification cards this week, and President Goodluck Jonathan received the first card. Each card contains biometric information and has the capability to receive electronic payments. The first phase of the collaborative effort between MasterCard and the Nigerian government will issue cards to 13 million Nigerians. The government plans to use the cards to electronically deliver salaries and pensions to reduce mismanagement of government payments. Some Nigerians are not excited about the identification cards. The Premium Times reported on citizen’s concerns about the collection of biometric information. Nigerians also reported distrust about the collaboration between MasterCard and...

SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 9 — At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets here in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity. Starting this month in a port neighborhood and then spreading across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by the same company will be issued to most citizens. Data on the chip will include not just the citizen’s name and address but also work history, educational background,...

Compulsory ID cards plan slammed12 December 2002 Government plans for a compulsory national identity card have come under fire. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes says the Government cannot be trusted with the proposal to keep huge amounts of personal data. Ministers are also wrong to claim the new cards will help counter terrorism, he says. "The people who flew the planes into the Twin Towers had ID cards, the issue was not that nobody knew who they were," said the MP. "This is not a Government whom I trust with my liberty. "Given its track record on...

ID network launched as Japan introduces Big Brother By Mock Turtle Wednesday, 7th August 2002 The Japanese Government has launched a new compulsory national ID scheme in the face of stiff opposition. Academics and activists have already handed the Home Affairs Ministry a petition demanding the Government halts the programme, which will turn every Japanese citizen into an 11-digit number. The opposition group has filed a court case claiming the new system is unconstitutional and should be stopped as it is a violation to privacy and tempts hackers. The new database stores personal data for every one of Japan's 126...

LONDON, July 3 (UPI) -- The British government Wednesday unveiled controversial proposals to introduce compulsory identity cards for the first time since World War II in an attempt to combat illegal immigration and to clamp down on benefit fraud. Home Secretary David Blunkett told Parliament that he envisioned a universal entitlement card for which everyone in Britain would register to gain the right to social services, benefits and employment. Blunkett said he was launching a six-month consultative exercise to gauge public reaction. But one source in Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said, "We wouldn't be putting the idea forward if...

WASHINGTON--In what is becoming a classic debate of the electronic age, panelists at an e-government show here discussed the difficult balance between privacy and security, particularly surrounding the issue of national ID cards. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had given the card tacit approval in his keynote speech earlier Wednesday at the E-Gov 2002 conference here. The topic has been hotly debated by privacy advocates and security experts. Today's panel, focusing on the future of e-government, was no exception. "We all benefit from 'practical obscurity,'" said Jay Stanley, who runs the technology and liberty project at the American Civil...