Consultation on Malaysia’s biometric national digital ID plan closes, border control integration considered

Aug 10, 2020, 8:50 am EDT | Chris Burt

Categories Biometrics News | Civil / National ID | Government Services | ID for All

Consultation on Malaysia’s biometric national digital ID plan closes, border control integration considered

A public consultation by Malaysia’s government on its proposed national biometric digital ID system has closed, Enterprise IT News reports, even as the proposal may be expanding to use by border control and immigration systems.

The government says that 90 percent of its services are now online, and the platform is expected to also be used for onboarding and services from private companies. Malaysians will be able to use the system for digital signatures on legal documents, and a range of other applications.

The digital identity could be used for electronic healthcare records, online government services, eKYC by financial institutions, authentication for government benefits distribution, telecommunications services, sharing economy transactions, educational services, and e-commerce verification, according to the report.

More than 60 percent of people in Malaysia also participate in ecommerce, which could increase with a national digital ID in place.

The system will include support for biometric verification with facial, fingerprint or iris recognition.

An RM3.5 billion (US$828 million) contract for a new immigration and border control system, known as SKIN, was cancelled late last year, with the government agreeing to pay compensation to Prestariang Bhd. In its place, a request for proposals for an Integrated Immigration System was issued, with Iris Corp, Datasonic Group, MyEG Services, and Heitech Padu all rumored to be in the running. S5 Systems is also reported to have at least considered a bid through ConnectCountry Holdings. The contract is expected to be announced in the third quarter of this year.

The consultation by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission closed on August 7, with feedback on the nine applications already included in the proposal and other elements of the proposed platform.