The existing Barbados National identification card has breaches that the new digital one should eliminate, says Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology (MIIST) Wayne Marshall.
The issue of the card, its replacement and the security concerns came up during the Estimates Debate in the House of Assembly yesterday.
Marshall said the issue of a secure ID card was a serious one as the current card was basically two pieces of plastic stuck to either side of a card with a picture and that “simply in itself suggests a security breach”. He said that since 1979 there had been no fundamental change to the ID card.
“Over the years I would have looked at a number of national IDs and over the years I would have also seen that there were a number of areas of security that should be tightened up. Anybody with a laminate machine can replicate that card. It is also highly susceptible to photo substitution,” said Marshall, a former immigration officer. (AC)
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