Julius Bitok: Social ID Versus National ID
Social ID will be introduced in Kenya to replace the national identification cards Kenyans.
Virtual/Social ID comes with a QR code which can be scanned to identify a person.
Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said the government is set to introduce a Social ID which is electronic and can even be stored in individual’s smartphones.
Once it is launched, then Kenyans may not need to walk around with their physical ID cards for identification.
According to Bitok it is key for Kenyans to be identified digitally since the government is moving to offer its services digitally.
“If you have your physical ID card, translating it to a new generation card doesn’t necessarily mean going for a new physical card. You could easily log into your smartphone and access your digital ID,” he said.
Bitok said that the digital card will have all the functionalities that the new electronic card will have, in addition it will be easily accessible on individual’s phones.
He added that the physical card will be used by those individuals who do not have smartphones. However, over 16 million people can access smartphoses and therefore many can use digital IDs.
“We feel that a digital ID in one’s smartphone has become essential in this ecosystem,” he said.
The Digital ID will have one’s nationality records and will be fully authenticated using one’s biometric data.
Digital/Social ID can be obtained from the e-citizen gava Mkononi app.
The PS said one can use the QR code to scan any of the official documents they activated on the digital ID site.
He said the purpose of the social ID is to give Kenyans sovereignty over their data.
With the digital IDs which have digital signing, people can send and receive official documents to sign digitally.
