If you want to apply for a Passport today, you will need to fill in details most of which you filled in for your National ID card which is a double effort. Questions linger as to why you have to fill in so many forms in banks and other places when you have a National ID. The problem lies partially in the law itself. "We lack a very robust data protection and privacy, regulatory regime. The data protection and privacy Bill is still before Parliament and has not yet been enacted into law. Certainly, this gives challenges in term of data access; what can be accessed and how it can be accessed. But it also creates mistrust within the data sharing regime." Said, Silver Kayondo – Associate AF Mpanga and Advocates.

So the National Registration Authority cannot fully share data with say the Immigration Directorate for your Passport. “So going forward, this is how it is going to be done. You will be able to have access to your information through our web portal. The different agencies that will have been approved to access the information National ID Register will have access to this information.” Said, Grace Nanyanzi – Ag. Director IT NIRA.

But this is in the future, this emerged at a discussion on digital financial sector deepening examining what India did to harness technology to grow financial inclusion. “There wasn’t really grand design to start off with, there was some elementary place, there were a certain set of competencies in place and there was importantly a political will to back it.” Said, Anand Raman – Consultant Inclusive Markets. Until the legal framework is enabled, the filling of forms for all sorts of applications will continue even if you have a National ID card.