News in Brief

Face ID at World Cup 2022

In November 2022, the footballing eyes of the world will be on Qatar, as it plays host to the first World Cup to be held in an Arab country. The country has spent billions of dollars on building seven new stadiums and refurbishing an eighth, and is taking no chances when it comes to safety and security.

Supporters will have first gone through a filtering process when they applied for tickets, with identities matching a watch list barred from receiving any.

Fans will be followed on Doha streets by omnipresent CCTV cameras armed with facial recognition technology. Qatar University experts have developed drone surveillance systems that, they say, will give the most accurate estimates of numbers on the streets.

The emphasis on using biometric technology to ‘track’ potential troublemakers, or even terrorists, is due to the unique geographic nature of the stadiums that will be used for the games. The eight stadiums are a maximum of 70 km apart and with four games per day, in the first round of matches, there is the increased possibility of disturbances or safety issues from one game spilling over to another one.

‘Basically, we can open a door or all the doors in a stadium right from the command centre,’ said Niyas Abdulrahiman, the organisers’ chief technology officer. ‘One stadium may be evacuated and at another we can secure the perimeter and stop people going inside’.

Abdulrahiman is proud of the role that facial surveillance will play in maintaining order at the tournament. ‘What you see here is a new standard, a new trend in venue operations, this is our contribution from Qatar to the world of sport. What you see here is the future of stadium operations.

Trial of US Online Passport Renewal is Underway

The US State Department has assembled 25,000 volunteers to try out the new online passport renewal program in advance of the service becoming available to the general public later in 2022.

The online passport renewal is part of President Joe Biden’s broader initiative to make accessing government services more seamless, whether that’s scheduling a call back from the IRS or applying for Medicare benefits online.

President Biden signed an executive order in December 2021 that includes a commitment to improving 36 ‘customer service experiences’ across 17 federal agencies. The order says that in recent years the annual paperwork burden imposed by government agencies on the public has been in excess of 9 billion hours.

Renewing your passport online will not be open to everyone. If your most recent passport is expired, it needs to be or have been valid for 10 years and you need to be age 25 years or older. Your most recent passport needs to have been issued more than nine years ago (in 2013) but less than 15 years ago (in 2007) from the date you plan to submit your application. 

Travellers must also be applying for a tourist passport, must live in the United States, not planning to travel internationally for at least five weeks from the date an application is submitted, and must not be changing their name, gender, date of birth or place of birth.

Once you submit your application, your most recent passport will be cancelled and you won’t be able to use it for international travel.

Launch Date Set for Brazil’s New National Identity Card

After the unveiling of the new passport design and issuance of the first new national identity card at an event, attended by President Jair Bolsonaro, at Palacio de Planalto (see IDN June 2022), the Brazilian government has released more details of the launch of the new documents.

The previous national identity cards (Registro Geral) will be gradually replaced by the new National ID Card (Carteira de Identidada Nacional – CIN). The new national ID card will also be available in a digital format. The cards will be replaced free of charge. There will be a phased introduction of the cards, starting with a selection of states including Acre, Distrito Federal, Santa Catarina, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul.

The remaining Brazilian states, including Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande de Norte, will begin issuing the new ID cards in March 2023.

The new CIN will bring a unique identification, through the Individual Taxpayer Registry (CPF), throughout Brazil. Citizens attempting to update their CPF, in order to apply for a CIN, may have to send documents to the federal revenue office such as an official photo ID, birth or marriage certificate, proof of residency and a selfie holding their existing ID document.

In September 2022, the government plans to introduce a new passport that will be valid for a period of 10 years. New passports can be obtained once existing passports have expired.

Toppan Gravity Partners with MOSIP

Toppan Gravity, the investment platform of Toppan Leefung – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toppan – has announced its collaboration with the Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), a robust, scalable, and inclusive foundational identity platform, to support governments in implementing a digital, foundational ID in a cost-effective way.

MOSIP was built on principles that prioritise security and privacy. With over 70 million people already registered on MOSIP-based systems, the platform allows the secure collection of demographic and biographic information of the end user to determine and issue a digital identity.

According to the newly formed partnership, a wisely designed ID programme can provide significant benefits in terms of financial and social inclusion, in particular. By enabling access to digital services, digital identity promotes value- creation through increased inclusion and contributes to reducing fraud. Proper use of digital identity protects citizens’ rights and increases transparency, while having a positive impact on GDP growth, especially for emerging economies.

Toppan Gravity is fulfilling MOSIP’s requirements both as system integrator and biometric solution provider.

‘MOSIP is one of the most exciting developments in the identity space, and Toppan Gravity is at the heart of it. With an unparalleled commitment to the Open- Source Initiative, we are proud to have joined the MOSIP Partner Programme.

Toppan Gravity is dedicated to supporting countries in mitigating challenges related to adopting new technology and vendor lock- in, facilitating international cooperation and knowledge transfer,’ says Nicolas Jaouen, VP Solutions.

Commenting on Toppan Gravity becoming a MOSIP Partner, Nagarajan Santhanam, Chief Dissemination Officer, MOSIP said: ‘we are pleased to have Toppan Gravity as a part of the MOSIP community, as one of the MOSIP-trained system integrators under the MOSIP Partner Programme, and a provider of compliant biometric solutions. We are confident that new countries adopting MOSIP for the implementation of their ID systems can make use of the experience and track record that Toppan brings to the Identity space. We are thrilled to be working with Toppan, along with all other ecosystem partners, on upcoming projects.’