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| Homepage |  | News | | Cabinet approves first draft of the biometric identification bill |
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| Cabinet approves first draft of the biometric identification bill |
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| 06/08/08 |
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The Israeli Government approved the first draft of the biometric travel and identification documents bill, and authorized the Ministerial Committee for Legislation to discuss the matter before submitting it to the Knesset.
The bill, which was initiated by the Ministry of Interior Affairs, includes the establishment of a national biometric data base which will consist of facial pictures and finger prints of all residents of the country which will be imbedded into identification cards and passports.
The biometric aspects in the ID cards and passports are designed to overcome identity theft which has become more and more common due to the simplicity of counterfeiting existing documents in various fields such as national insurance, income tax, ballots and criminal records.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs' data, between 2005 and 2007, approximately 150 thousand new identity cards were reissued in Israel due to loss, theft of destruction of the original. The majority of the requests for new ID papers were issued by citizens with criminal records.
The law will make possible a positive identification of all Israeli residents since the biometric aspects in the papers have unique biological characteristics. In addition, a steering committee will be established which will coordinate and manage the database which will be completely separate from the existing population registration and will have the highest security clearances.
The biometric data base will also allow the country to identify citizens who have no ID with them, which can also prove useful in case of a large scale natural disaster. In addition, the courts can authorize using the database for detection, investigation and prevention of crimes and criminals, including terror attacks.
An inter-ministerial committee was established in order to promote the legislation in the Israeli parliament. The committee is chaired by the Director General of the Ministry of Interior Affairs with representatives from with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Israel Police and the Israel Airports Authority.
"The need for biometric identification is even more important in today's era of forgery in Israel and abroad" said the Minister of Public Security, Avi Dicter, "success in this field will lead to private companies using the system as well"
"The data base must be the sole source of the data, and its use can be done only by an obliging legal process".
Due to the sensitive nature of the issue of the biometric databases, the draft was transferred to many legal authorities such as the President of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General, Dean of Schools of Law in various Universities, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, in order to hear their opinion on the bill and to assure that it will be as comprehensive and specific when it comes to the work procedures and the biometric data protection.
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