`Electoral authorities are warning Barbadians against exposing themselves to possible identity theft by giving third parties their personal information to register for the new Trident ID card.
The Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) which is responsible for in-person and digital registration and issuing the cards has put citizens on alert after an entity known as Connection Logic advertised its services on social media, telling Barbadians they could assist them in the registration process for a fee.
Chief Electoral Officer Angela Taylor said on Wednesday that people giving their personal information to other entities in circumstances such as this was a dangerous thing.
“I would just warn persons that they are exposing themselves to identity theft. People better be aware of what they are exposing themselves to when you give somebody, a third party like that, your information,” Taylor said in an interview with Barbados TODAY.
In a notice posted on social media, the EBC said it was aware of people offering a fee-based service to assist individuals in registering for their free Trident ID card.
“We wish to advise the public that we regard this as risky and potentially dangerous and that they should not engage any such services to register for their Trident ID cards from unofficial persons or entities,” it cautioned.
“The registration for the new ID card requires the sharing of personally identifiable information which, if shared with the wrong person, could lead to identity theft. Registration for the Trident ID card should only be done either face-to-face at a registration centre or using the online portal directly by the person who is registering.”
However, Connection Logic has defended its service which it is offering at a cost of $25 for people aged 16 to 64 years and $20 for those 65 years and older. It also offers family/group packages.
When Barbados TODAY called the number listed in the ad for Connection Logic, a female who did not identify herself answered. She said the “private business” was not affiliated with the EBC but was offering a service to assist Barbadians in the Trident registration process.
“Yes, we offer the service where we complete the registration for persons online and submit it to the Electoral and Boundaries Commission and all correspondence thereafter comes directly from them to your email,” she said, explaining that anyone who uses the service sends a photo of the back of their existing ID card along with their email address to create an account online.
“When that account is created, you will receive a verification code automated from the Electoral and Boundaries Commission to your email, and you need then to send us that verification code so that we can put it inside the account to activate it.
“Once that is done, we request the payment at that point. Once we receive the payment, then we proceed to do the registration where then you have to send us the passport photo, you also have to send a supporting document to go with that – whether it be the birth certificate or the picture page of your passport – your address, and stuff like that.”
When asked for background on the company, the woman said it provides digital services.
“We are Connection Logic. We basically do everything online. We do Tamis registration, we do income tax filing, we do visa applications, [and] passport forms. We generally do everything. So we just added this to our list of services being offered,” she explained.
When the matter of verifying the business was raised by this media house, the woman contended that “if you called CAIPO [Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office] now to find out if Connection Logic exists, that is the only verification you have, you don’t know who you are speaking to.”
She added: “So if you have issues with that, what you should do is visit one of the physical centres [of the EBC] and get your ID done. We are not calling people, people are contacting us to get this done. We are not summoning anyone. “So you just find your centre in your parish and go and stay up in the line, wait, get your number…. You don’t have to pay, it is totally free because they do it for you physically there, but we are offering a service so you have to pay us because we run a business.”
A search of CAIPO’s online portal revealed that a business called Connection Logic was registered in Barbados on June 20, 2005.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
