Putin signs off on digital ID

Who or what inspired the Russian government to give control of country’s biometrics to a private enterprise partly owned by the Bank of Russia?

Maybe the World Bank?

In an article published just days before the bill was rushed (in violation of protocols) through the legislature and signed into law, Tsargrad—a pro-Putin conservative outlet—made the following observations:

Sharp criticism of the bill on biometrics was voiced at a public conference held on December 14 in Moscow dedicated to this issue. The general opinion of the speakers was that the law on biometrics is deeply unconstitutional and creates the basis for building a “digital concentration camp” in Russia. […]

The conference participants pointed to the true authors of the bill on biometrics. It fully meets the recommendations of such a globalist and deeply hostile structure to Russia as the World Bank. These recommendations are contained in a 2018 World Bank document titled “Competition in the Digital Age: Policy Implications for the Russian Federation”.

The World Bank recommended that Russia make public services fully digital, transform the education and healthcare system into a digital form. The World Bank recommendations have already spilled over into recommendations given by Russian government agencies.

In its 2018 report, the World Bank said Russian financial institutions were “driving the adoption of a national digital ID system” in the country.

The World Bank was particularly impressed by Russia’s trailblazing “biometric solutions,” for example, “the biometric identification platform recently piloted by Rostelecom that enables clients to open a bank account remotely.”

The report urged policymakers to create a regulatory framework that would “foster partnerships in the digital finance ecosystem, including the public sector.”

The “biometric identification platform” piloted by Rostelecom is known as the Unified Biometric System (UBS). Created in 2018 in partnership with the Bank of Russia, UBS was initially billed as a “safe and convenient” way for Russians to remotely open bank accounts or apply for loans.

The bill that Putin signed into law on December 29 paves the way for UBS to be used in all aspects of life—what you might call a “national digital ID system.”

What does this mean?

It means the Unified Biometric System is the ultimate slow-boil scam; a scam of exquisite vintage, aged in scam-oak and stored in the World Bank’s deepest, darkest scam-cellar.

A masterful slow-boil

To fully appreciate how Russians are being slowly boiled alive in a giant cauldron of “safety and convenience,” all you have to do is go back to 2018 when UBS was first introduced as a safe and convenient and World Bank-endorsed way to apply for a loan.

Announcing the creation of UBS in June 2018, Vedomosti wrote:

The state seems to have figured out how to provide services without requiring a citizen to present an original passport to verify identity. From July 1, the Unified Biometric System will be launched in Russia, where Russians will be able to submit images of faces and casts of voices if they wish. […]

There will be no wild demand for registration in the Unified Biometric System for the sake of obtaining banking services, the bankers themselves admit. But, most likely, after testing the system in the overregulated banking sector, it will be used to provide other services, such as government and medical. And here, for many, a dilemma may arise: what is more important—comfort and convenience or privacy and safety of their personal data? […]

Biometrics gives the state a huge opportunity to control society, since biometric data is inseparable from a person. Now in public places (for example, in transport), face recognition systems are being introduced to search for those who are wanted. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB will have access to the Unified Biometric System…

Again, this was almost five years ago, when UBS was advertised as a fast and convenient way to open a bank account.

Thanks to a newly created regulatory framework (endorsed by the World Bank), UBS is now so much more.

In a January 11, 2023 article, RIA Novosti praised the safety and convenience of UBS, which apparently will now be used for all kinds of things—and not just for opening a bank account:

With the help of new technologies and the development of research in this area, we can expect improvements in the accuracy and speed of facial identification, as well as new applications of biometrics in various fields.

For example, biometrics can be used in the medical field for diagnosing and monitoring health, as well as in the transportation industry for driving cars and other vehicles. In the future, biometrics is likely to become an even more widespread and important part of our lives.

“The development of computer technology allows the use of biometrics in many areas of activity: access control to premises and devices, confirmation of financial transactions, security at airports, identification at schools and hospitals, assistance to law enforcement agencies. The system contributes to the rapid search for criminals and the prompt disclosure of crimes,” Ernest Raevsky, a representative from the company GetTransfer, says.

The expert notes that now biometric data is used in social facilities, in educational institutions. “At the end of November 2022, President Vladimir Putin announced that it is necessary to implement artificial intelligence into all spheres of life and this is a priority for the coming years […],” concluded Raevsky.

There’s not much else to add, except to point out—again—that this “new” biometrics law is universally hated and despised in Russia.

To quote Tsargrad:

There is only one question: why is this bill needed? We are fighting for gaining our sovereignty on the battlefield in Ukraine, while in the rear we are acting according to World Bank manuals?

We hope legislators will show common sense, figure out in whose interests this law was developed, and send it to where it belongs—the trash can.

Instead of being tossed into the trash, the bill was sent to Putin’s desk, where it was promptly signed into law.

A truly epic, slow-boil scam.

The World Bank does not endorse Edward Slavsquat. Subscribe?