KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC -Faced with hundreds of cases where the identity information or the data provided by citizens is different from that in other government databases, the executive director of the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), Dr. Warren Vernon, says the national identification (ID) program is an important tool in combating identity theft and fraud.
NIRA is now in its first full year of integrated operations, with a mandate to provide reliable identification for Jamaicans and all persons legally residing in the country. It is also tasked with delivering reliable civil registration services through the Office of the Registrar General.
“We know identity theft and fraud are happening in Jamaica. We would have discovered quite a few cases of persons who tried to apply for national ID cards, and we were able to detect the fraudulent documentation,” Vernon said.
He said that each identity within the system is unique, ensuring no duplication. He explained that it is matched against birth records or, for individuals not born in Jamaica, records maintained by the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA).
He said that since enrolments for national identification cards began, several attempts to register using fake documentation, including fraudulent birth certificates, have been made, noting that the system has detected these cases.
“We came across over 372 cases where the identity information or the data provided by citizens to us to enroll was different from the data that is in other government databases.
“So, to achieve the objective of the high-assurance or high-confidence tool, we would have cleaned and fixed over 372 records to make sure that the names that are in the civil registry, in other words, the name that is on your birth certificate, is the same name that is on your document,” Vernon said.
He said that these measures are being implemented through processes designed to provide a higher level of assurance for identity information, noting that there have been instances in which individuals seeking to enroll for their national ID did not have fingerprints.
The NIRA executive director, however, noted that the system is equipped to manage such cases through the necessary approvals.
“We have to do an override to facilitate enrolment. So, the system was designed in such a way to be very, very inclusive,” Vernon said.
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