The People’s Struggle Alliance (PSA) has raised concerns over the collection of biometric data under the digital identity card project.
Addressing a symposium held at the CSR in Maradana on Wednesday against granting India access to Sri Lankans’ biometric data under the guise of the digital identity card process, PSA’s national executive member Wasantha Mudalige said that although they are not opposed to digital identity cards, they are against handing over people’s information and data to another foreign country.
This comes in the backdrop of a statement by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath who declared that the Sri Lankan government is finalizing an agreement with India that would entrust the power to issue digital identity cards to an Indian company
He raised concerns about collecting people’s sensitive biometric data for the sake of digital identity cards, pointing out the data breaches, including the Indian Adhaar company breach where personally identifiable information of 815 million Indian citizens, including Aadhaar numbers and passport details, were being sold on the dark web.
He also claimed that the ruling National People’s Power government is gearing up to spy on the citizens and are using the digital NIC project as a cover.
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