Permanent Secretary of Immigration Julius Bitok said the government is now introducing a Social Identity Card which is electronic and one can even save it on their modern phones.
This means that Kenyans may no longer need to carry around their real IDs to identify themselves.
Bitok said that since the government is moving to provide its services digitally, the ministry felt it was also important for Kenyans to introduce themselves digitally.
The virtual ID will come with a QR code that can be scanned to identify the person if you have your physical ID.
”You can easily log in on your smartphone and get your digital ID,” he said.
”This digital card will have all the functionality that a new electronic card will have, but on top of that it’s easily accessible on your phone,” Bitok said.
The physical card will serve those who do not have a smart phone, but since the number of modern phones in the country is close to 16 million, many may have digital IDs.
The Digital ID will contain records of a person’s citizenship and will be fully authenticated using the person’s biometric data.
A digital ID can also contain special records that you normally keep in a standard format.
”Examples are your birth certificate, driver’s license and even a copy of your passport,” he said. To get a digital ID, one has to first download the e-citizen application on the mobile and log in. Then one does biometric verification of the face and fingerprints. .
