Security News > 2024 > February > Vietnam to collect biometrics - even DNA - for new ID cards

Prime minister Pham Minh Chinh instructed the nation's Ministry of Public Security to collect the data in the form of iris scans, voice samples and actual DNA, in accordance with amendments to Vietnam's Law on Citizen Identification.

Ammendments to the Law on Citizen Identification that allow collection of biometrics passed on November 27 of last year.

Biometric information on DNA and voice is collected when voluntarily provided by the people or the agency conducting criminal proceedings or the agency managing the person to whom administrative measures are applied in the process of settling the case according to their functions and duties whether to solicit assessment or collect biometric information on DNA, people's voices are shared with identity management agencies for updating and adjusting to the identity database.

Vietnam's future identity cards will incorporate the functions of health insurance cards, social insurance books, driver's licenses, birth certificates, and marriage certificates, as defined by the amendment.

There are approximately 70 million adults in Vietnam as of 2022, making the collection and safeguarding of such data no small feat.

Vietnam's physical ID cards will change as a result of these measures, While their shape will remain, the wording they bear and issuing agency will change.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/20/vietnam_id_cards_dna/