The Corporate Affairs Directorate of the National Identification Authority (NIA) has released a public advisory communique urging public and private institutions to employ biometric verification methods for secure transactions in their dealings with the general public.
This comes after careful observation by the authority revealed a need to address key identity verification challenges facing companies, individuals, and the country as a whole.
Some challenges come from a prevalent lack of understanding of the fundamentals regarding use of the Ghana card, and lax security practices by public and private institutions.
“It has come to NIA’s attention that some institutions rely on non-biometric identity verification services (lookup lists and visual (ocular) inspection of the Ghana Card) to verify identities of persons they transact business with”
Corporate Affairs Directorate of the National Identification Authority
According to the NIA, these methods do not guarantee the accuracy of an individual’s identity as recorded in the National Identity Register (NIR) and cannot be relied on any longer.
Especially since the Ghana card is the medium mandated by law for the establishment of identity in the country. It should be patronised by all institutions for secure transactions across the country.
This is to ensure that recent advancements in technology are properly complemented by apt identity verification methods, while the evolving nature of identity fraud is effectively countered by biometric verification.
Such identity verification provides “the most secure, reliable, and fraud-resistant method of identity verification and authentication”.
“As part of continued efforts to enhance the security and integrity of identity verification across all public and private institutions, the National Identification Authority (NIA) wishes to emphasize the importance of biometric verification in establishing identity in transactions pursuant to the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012 (L.I.211 1)”
Corporate Affairs Directorate of the National Identification Authority
In order to enhance identity verification standards across board, the NIA strongly recommends all institutions requiring and conducting forms of identity verification as part of their businesses, to swiftly adopt biometric authentication into the process.
The recommendation is for such institutions to position themselves directly to cross-check against the National Identity Register (NIR). This would ensure the highest standards of security, fraud prevention and risk mitigation.
Beyond mitigation of risks associated with non-biometric verification methods, these would also ensure compliance with the law.
The aim of incorporating biometric verification methods is to prevent identity theft and impersonation as well as eliminate reliance on easily forged physical documents which can cause great loss and inconveniences to institutions.
Furthermore, a nationwide adoption of these practices would ensure real time verification with records of persons stored in the National Identity Register and support the implementation of national and international security standards in Ghana.
Potential Risks of Non-Biometric Verification Methods
The NIA insists that institutions that fail to incorporate proper verification methods into their security systems risk unknowingly facilitating identity fraud or misuse of identity cards by some unscrupulous individuals in the society.
It maintains that lookup lists may fail to provide real time updates that may be relevant to the verification at hand. These include lost, broken or revoked ID cards on one hand and a failure to reflect updated personal records on the other.
In the same vein, visual inspection alone cannot detect fraudulent or tampered Ghana cards.
As a result, the NIA has established “a robust, state-of-the-art Identity Verification System Platform (IVSP)” built to enable the biometric verification of people who possess Ghana Cards against the National Identity Register (NIR).
This will enhance security, accuracy and public confidence in identity verification all over. The NIA guarantees that output data given to any institution using the IVSP is time-stamped, accurate and auditable.
The charge is for all institutions mandated by law to have access to the NIR for its operations, to reach out to the NIA for technical assistance as it remains ever ready to help.
These include getting systems appropriately set up, upgraded and updated for all such institutions to ensure smooth implementation of proper verification methods and processes throughout the country.
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