[iDC] Moroccan ID Cards, Except for Artists

[rl at radlab.com]

For possible interest and conjecture.   rl


Morocco issues biometric ID cards

Posted by Mark Rutherford
December 1, 2008

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10110050-42.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Morocco's national security service has begun issuing millions of 
"contactless,"
biometric identification smart cards to simultaneously fight terrorism and
guarantee respect for "citizens' rights and liberty," according to that North
African government.

Moroccan citizens over 18 years old are required to carry the new ID, 
but on the
upside; the card conveniently supplants birth certificates, certificate of
residence, certificate of life, and certificate of nationality in "all
procedures for which these documents must be provided."

Artists, however, will continue to be issued a professional ID card by the
Ministry of Culture.

The smart cards hold personal details and biometric data, and can be used as
travel documents, as well as a way for the government to "control migration
flows." Naturally, no one besides the cardholder and authorized government
entities will have access to the personal data in the bar code and on the
microchip.

French aerospace giant Thales provided the system, which included the security
software, document production equipment, and the "connectivity with the
Automated Fingerprint Identification System which acquires digital
fingerprints."

This is the world's first national ID system based on contactless smart-card
technology, according to the press release. The Direction Generale de la
Securite Nationale (DGSN) has issued at least a million cards to date 
and plans
to distribute 20 million more over the next four years.

The ID cards for artists, meanwhile, afford them a "more structured 
environment"
in which to work and ensure "conditions necessary to promote creativity,"
according to the Ministry. There also are unspecified "social benefits."




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