Biometric National ID: What Does It Mean for Your Other IDs?

As previously reported, the government of Belize has approved the nationwide rollout of a new national identification system. This project is part of Belize’s digital transformation agenda, and its pilot project has already been completed.

Jose Urbina, the CEO in the Ministry of E-governance, told News 5 that the pilot project kicked off earlier this year. As of April, the project has successfully onboarded approximately 600 persons to the system.

CEO Urbina confirmed that the national ID will use biometric technology to properly authenticate each applicant, going beyond traditional forms of identification such as social security cards or passports.

“We are hoping that in September, we launch the civil registry in vital statistics, a new system of the vital statistics unit. We recently launched the criminal record registry (CRR) so that our citizens can apply for police records online. How do you log in to these systems currently if I reference the CRR? It’s simply by using your email, and you get a 2-factor authentication code by means of email,” Urbina said.

He added, “But we cannot do that for critical services. If you look at banking, if you want to apply for a loan. The social security card or passport is what they ask for. But we’re hoping that in the future, as we drive digitalisation, you would be able to apply for a loan from the comfort of your home.”

The national ID will feature end-to-end encryption and multiple security layers.

“It’s not something that’s being prepared loosely,” Urbina said. “We are ensuring that all the security layers are in place to protect the transmission of the information and also to safeguard the database.”

Urbina clarified that the national ID will not immediately replace existing IDs. He said this has been one of the biggest misunderstandings of the public. He explained that functional IDs such as social security cards, driver’s licenses, and voter IDs each serve different purposes and will remain in use for their purpose.

“The social security card is used to track your employment, contributions, and benefits,” he explained, while a license “identifies driving rights,” and a voter’s ID is strictly for voting.

The long-term aim is to have the National ID replace all forms of identification.