Your ID number safe?
A recent report in The Star newspaper titled ‘ID theft alert for luxury estates’ suggests that private security companies are violating national security for profit by using a Home Affairs IS database.
According to the newspaper security companies are demanding ID numbers and fingerprints for access to exclusive residential estates across the country.
“These are then checked against a database of 53 million people that mimics government records,” it is reported. “The company selling this database to the security companies boasts of having worked on the national population register for the Department of Home Affairs.”
There seems to be little that can be done about it, raising concerns about what is being done with the information, where and for how long it is stored and what assurances are given to people that their personal information will be safe.
According to Gerhard Loots, Chief Commercial Officer at Atec, there are better and more secure ways to address the security demands at residential estates.
Atec has developed a product called i-Dentifid which essentially does the same as the database based ID system, but without the need to have access to any ID number or other database.
According to Loots their system avoids privacy issues by simply scanning the 2D barcode on the back of a license, and then storing the information on an encrypted SQL server. The duration of storage, Loots says, is determined by estate security rules and legislative guidelines.
“We have developed a product that utilizes a scanning device that scans the 2D barcode on the back of the licence. The information contained in this barcode is the same information that is displayed on the front of the driver’s licence. Our device simply ensures that it is placed in a manageable electronic format which is then kept for electronically searchable record purposes,” says ATEC’s Chief Commercial Officer, Gerhard Loots.
This system is already used in high profile residential estates like Dainfern, Blair Atholl and Silver Lakes.
Loots points out that whilst one must have great respect for the privacy of the individual, the security rights of a collective group of individuals on their own property should and do take preference, where proper consent has been obtained. The privacy concerns of individuals are addressed by ensuring that private information is securely stored and not made available to any outside parties other than those have a direct interest in the security of the estate.
The Atec’s solution may prove to be a more sustainable solution than the ID database option. The confidentiality and national security aspects associated with any population register may mean that any such database is made illegal to use or possess by anyone other than the police or financial institutions.
Your ID number safe? << comments and views
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