Sri Lanka to introduce electronic identity cards from next year

The Sri Lankan government announced that in January next year electronic national indentity cards will be issued to people across the island.

Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake announced that the identity cards will contain “all information from the time of the birth of a child” and would allow the government to tackle fraud and “carry out [the] observations,” reports ColomboPage.

The government was previously collecting biometric data such as fingerprints in 2013, with the new identity cards “required for the current and future needs of national security “.

Children above 10 years old will also reportedly be issued with an identity card.

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