card is intended to eventually replace
all local, regional, and national forms
of ID, providing a central database
through which Russians can access
everything from medical insurance
to ATMs. According to the official
website, the UEC will be adopted by
around 1,000 national and regional
services along with about 10,000
commercial enterprises. The mayor
of Moscow has already declared it will
be able to handle public transportation
there, and we can expect similar adoptions throughout the nation.
The cards were scheduled for
rollout beginning in January of 2012.
However, this has been delayed because the cards are not yet available
and the system is not working properly.
The revised distribution plan is to
give cards to all who apply for them in
2013. The following year, cards will be
issued to all citizens, unless a person
makes a written statement of refusal.
MANY NATIONS TOOK
SIGNIFICANT STEPS
TOWARD ESTABLISHING THEIR NATIONAL
ID SYSTEMS IN 2012.
PAKISTAN
Pakistan’s National Database
Regulatory Authority launched the
country’s new Smart National Identity
Card in October of 2012. It held the
launch at the eighth symposium of
International Civil Aviation Organization on identity documents, biometrics
and security standards.
The Smart National Identity Card
contains 36 security features. The Pakistani government has invested Rs 200
billion in developing smart card IDs
with biometric verification for use in
humanitarian assistance and financial
inclusion programs. It also plans to
roll out e-Government services such as
insurance, pension disbursement and
e-voting, with the cards.
TECHNOLOGY PREPARES FOR
THE MARK OF THE BEAST
Hitachi Electric announced a new
camera technology that can scan days
of camera footage instantly, finding
any face that has ever passed the
camera’s lens. Hitachi claims the new
technology can scan 36 million faces
per second!
UNITED STATES
In the US, the battle against a
national ID card, deceptively called
Real ID, has been fierce. The deadline
for implementation has been changed
from May 11, 2008 to December 31,
2009 to May 11, 2011 to January
15, 2013. With the January 15, 2013
deadline fast approaching, Homeland
Security has been ominously quiet on
the issue. With many states still in
non-compliance, it appears this deadline won’t be met either.
However, after seven years of
continual pressure, some of the states
seem to be coming around. Even those
states that have laws on their books
forbidding compliance with Real ID
are, in fact, moving to comply.
The National Conference of State
Legislatures says it’s not trying to get
repeal legislation reintroduced into the
US Congress and instead is focusing
its efforts on changing the Homeland
Security Department’s implementing
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