The Government will be spending $2.3 billion in the upcoming fiscal year to continue implementation of the voluntary National Identification System (NIDS) for Jamaica. NIDS is expected to provide a secure, reliable and unique method of authenticating an individual’s identity. The money, which has been set aside in the 2021/22 Estimates of Expenditure, will be used to complete modifications for...

Programme Director for the National Identification System (NIDS), Warren Vernon, is assuring the public that personal data stored under the system will be secure. He said that persons will have control over the disclosure or release of their identity information. “Once you appear in a private-sector or a government entity, the first step of this process is that you must...

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, has called on Jamaicans to support the National Identification System (NIDS), as it will prevent identity theft from affecting hard-working Jamaicans whose information fall into the hands of criminals through cyberspace. While responding to issues outlined during the third Joint Select Committee on National Identification & Registration Act, 2020, Virtual Town Hall Meeting on...

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, says persons who breach the provisions of the National Identification and Registration Act, 2020, and unlawfully access or misuse information provided for the national identification system (NIDS), could be fined up to $3 million. Mr. Chuck, who is Chairman of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament reviewing the legislation, was speaking during a virtual...

Programme Director for the National Identification System (NIDS), Warren Vernon, says that biometric data for the national identification database will be encrypted to prevent unauthorised access. “Your fingerprint and facial image will be encrypted, so that a regular person just can’t access it like that unless you have the resources or the authority to decrypt the information,” he said. “Additionally,...

Enrolments under the National Identification System (NIDS) are being targeted for commencement within eight months. NIDS Programme Director, Warren Vernon, indicated that “if we receive the legal framework by May, we will be in a position to start personalising the first card by September 2021”, while adding that “we have been doing a lot of work [to this end] in...

Members of the public have until Friday, January 29 to submit written comments to the Joint Select Committee of Parliament on the National Identification and Registration Act, 2020 (NIDS). Comments may be submitted to Clerk to the Houses, Gordon House, 81 Duke Street, Kingston or via electronic mail to clerk@japarliament.gov.jm. The 71-page document can be downloaded from the Houses of...