The Kenya Government has set aside KSh 1 billion to roll out Unique Personal Identifiers (UPIs) for all Kenyans, to replace the current physical Identity Cards.
According to Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, the UPIs also known as Maisha Cards, will be issued to all citizens at birth. The digital ID will be used as the official identifier throughout all education stages, tax payment to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and as a death certificate number upon demise.
“We are implementing the president’s directive that we introduce a digital ID within 90 days. We shall now have a new number called the Maisha Number that everyone born in Kenya will have. It will be the birth certificate number, used as the ID number, for work, for KRA PIN,” Bitok said. The digital ID will also be issued to those who attain the age of 18 years.
“This is a move from second-generation to third-generation IDs. It will be accessible digitally so that those not willing to carry the physical copy can have a digital copy on their phones,” the PS said.
President Dr William Ruto is expected to launch the UPI on September 29.
The digital IDs will enable more accurate registration of births and deaths, facilitate access to e-citizen Government Services, allow financial institutions to better do their KYC profile of customers, enhance revenue collection and improve accuracy of government records.
Digital IDs have also raised serious privacy and security concerns, especially concerning how to collect and store personal information.
Kenya is developing a new policy framework to support and regulate the use of digital identities. This policy framework outlines the principles and standards for collecting, storing, using, and sharing personal information to protect individuals’ privacy and security.
The Data Protection Act 2019 requires a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) to be conducted before a digital ID program is rolled out.
A DPIA looks into the privacy and security risks associated with a specific data processing activity. Thereafter, the DPIA sets out the procedures to mitigate those risks.
