Toddlers to get digital ID in Philippines, Caymans

The Philippines is allowing children four years of age and younger to sign up for the country’s digital ID, the Philippine Identification System or PhilSys.

Signing up for the ID system usually requires biometric information, such as fingerprints, iris scan and a facial image. Registering children, however, will only require demographic data and a photograph, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority in the Central Visayas region. The agency, which is in charge of implementing the digital ID system, will only capture their biometrics once they reach five years old.

The children’s PhilSys Number (PSN) will be linked to their parents or legal guardians. Upon reaching the age of 15, their biographic and biometric data will be recaptured once again, Cebu Daily News reports.

The Philippines are currently on a drive to register 92 million Filipinos for PhilSys by June this year. To achieve this, the country has been sending out mobile teams to isolated areas, including special PhilSys boats.

As of March, the country had 85 million registered residents in the system.

Caymans lays out plans for ID card rollout

The Cayman Islands government has presented plans for issuing physical and electronic identity cards, known as eIDs, to people of all ages starting in the last quarter of 2024.

The first citizens that will receive the new IDs will be the elderly and the young, followed by the rest of the population, which is due to receive cards in 2025. The government said it chose to target their older and younger population first as they often lack alternative forms of identification such as passports.

Parents will be able to sign up children for a national digital ID card at any age. Children’s cards may have an optional QR code to share an emergency contact number, according to the Cayman Compass.

The Caribbean country passed the Identification Register Bill in December last year, paving the way for the launch of ID cards and a digital identity register by mid-June 2024. The US$9.6 million project still awaits the finalization of additional regulation by the end of this year, including the Identification Register Bill and the National Identification Card Bill.

The ID cards will not be mandatory, as the initial plan for obligatory enrollment into the register was dropped after pressure from the opposition. Government officials discussed the convenience that a digital ID card can provide for use cases like travel, and the potential to allow more people to open bank accounts.

Article Topics

Cayman Islands  |  children  |  CRVS  |  digital ID  |  identity management  |  Philippines