KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Floyd Green, is declaring that measures have been put in place to ensure that the National Identification System (NIDS) will have “the strongest database protection system” in Jamaica. 

The database, he assured, will be less susceptible to breaches.  

Speaking with Managing Director of Jamaica Observer, Julian Rogers, during the observation of Data Protection Day, Green explained that the government has not, in any of the database set up so far, “gone to this level to ensure we prioritise data protection”, such as that being done under NIDS.

“It is one of the things, we got a lot of comments on, and a lot of people indicated that one of the things they wanted to see from the Government was for the National Identification System… to have a strong, robust data protection framework, and as such, the Data Protection Act has been passed, and we do look forward to the regulations in relation to the… Act,” he said.

Additionally, the minister disclosed that an information commissioner has been installed to, among other responsibilities, be the data protector. 

“But outside of that, in the legislation, we have taken some steps — one of the first of its kind in Jamaica. The information that is being put into the National Identification System database will be encrypted on entry,” he stated.

“So, being able to get to that information will require special access…, and who will have that access will be vetted, and we have put in the law various penalties to ensure that those who have access, if they run a foul, that they will be held accountable,” Green said. 

He added: “We have also put in place an inspectorate that will function as a Commissioner of Parliament that will ensure that the authority is doing what it has committed to in relation to data protection.”

Green, who is overseeing the NIDS project, reiterated that “for the first time, we will have a verifiable, secure database that can really say you are who you are, so it will be much harder to breach”.

In the meantime, the minister, in recognising the multiple identifiers required by many Jamaicans, assured that NIDS will rectify those challenges.

“Having that database will have biometric information that will actually be able to say you are who you say you are, [and] will make a lot of those processes easier,” Green reasoned. 

He shared, too, that the Government is still working on rolling out the actual physical NIDS card by this year.

In the interim, work is being done to complete the NIDS production facility to produce the physical cards, while the government is moving towards the legislative framework in relation to the regulations, according to Green.

“We have already put out the general regulation, and we’re starting our consultative process. The technical team is finalising the draft, and once those draft regulations are published, we then move forward to put in a process where people can directly comment on what they want to see done,” outlined Green.