Warren Gwilt reports:
The Department of Home Affairs is to probe whether private security companies are violating national security for profit.
Security companies are demanding ID numbers and fingerprints for access to exclusive residential estates across the country. These are checked against a database of 53 million people that mimics the government’s records.
[…]
Ideco, the company that compiled the database to use with scanners, says it has sold hundreds of them – and databases – to security companies. Used at the access points of residential complexes and golf estates, visitors are expected to key in their ID numbers and have their fingerprints scanned to verify their identity.
The system, Evim (Electronic Visitor Identity Management), is run from the hand-held device which captures the information then sends it to the database to match ID number with name.
Once the person leaves the complex, their information is allegedly erased. By law though, the security company is required to keep records of everyone they scan for up to three years.
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