Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has ordered the creation of a digital database of citizens, linking their bio-data to various activities such as income tax and voting. The project, overseen by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) and a Presidential Task Force, is seen as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for a digital identity system. Sri Lanka already has a well-developed National Identity Card (NIC) system, and the new initiative aims to digitize and integrate different identity registers, improving public sector efficiency. However, concerns have been raised about the cybersecurity of such a system, with some officials downplaying cybersecurity worries.
