Ethics and Smart Governments: The Case of National ID Smart Card in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

introductionThis paper examines UAE's smart card project, which was introduced as part of the country's e-government. An attempt will be made to examine the impacts of the project on individual privacy. The project was selected as a case study for several reasons. First, the national smart card is the largest e-government project to be implemented by the UAE government. Second, the government agencies involved in this project possess the largest amount of personal information concerning the country's citizens (national and/or expats). The government agencies participating in the project include, but not limited to: Roads and Transports Authority (RTA), Immigration Departments, Health Department and Central bank of the Emirates.The individuals who are the subject of this project are unaware of how the smart card works. They also do not know how the technology will be used to collect, store, access, and transfer their personal information. Therefore, the next section firstly examines the specifications (types) of the smart card technology and addresses the privacy implications of this technology. The next part contains some examples of how smart card technology could affect individual privacy in UAE. What is a 'smart card'?A smart card is simply a plastic rectangle containing a microchip, and holding a certain amount of readable data.1 It can be in the form of a memory card or a processing-enabled card. A memory card, which is the simplest form of a smart card, has limited capability to securely store personal information.2 This type of card is usually used for repetitive transactions, and examples include the prepaid telephone card or a building access 'key'.3 The processer-enabled card is more sophisticated. t has self-contained computer processing capabilities to store, manipulate, code, decode and access data. 4 Software and functions on the card can be updated or changed, without the need to replace the card itself. As for information storage, the smart card can hold significant amount of information equivalent to several full-size printed pages of information.5 In addition, a smart card is capable of creating and modifying data and it can perform calculations and respond to external Abstract: This paper examines United Arab Emirates' national ID smart card, which was implemented as part of the smart government. An attempt will be made to examine the ethical issues of the national ID smart card with respect to individual privacy. These national ID cards were selected as a case study for several reasons. First, the national ID smart card is the largest smart government project to be implemented by the Federal Government (UAE). Second, the government agencies in UAE involved in this project possess the largest amount of personal information concerning all people residing in UAE (local or expats). Third, individuals are unable to make any transactions without presenting their national ID card. These transactions vary from applying for credit card, home loan, opening bank accounts, to renting a car. The individu...