Internal Affairs, Communes, Housing, and Urban Policy Committee at House of Representatives Presents Government Bill 04.20 on Electronic National Identity Card (CINE)
The Internal Affairs, Communes, Housing, and Urban Policy Committee at the House of Representatives held a meeting on Wednesday, June 17th, 2020, under the chairmanship of the Committee’s Chairperson Moulay Hicham El Mhajri, with Minister of Internal Affairs Abdelouafi Leftit. The meeting was devoted to presenting Government Bill 04.20 on the electronic national identity card (CINE).
In his presentation of the Bill before the Committee, the Minister of Internal Affairs noted that “after more than ten years of creating the electronic national identity card, it is time to upgrade this document to fight the novel methods of fraud and to introduce new features that follow up with the digital development vision adopted by the Kingdom. The new electronic national identity card features include reducing the compulsory age for obtaining the identity card from 18 to 16, with the possibility of granting it to minors at the request of their legal representatives, with obligatory renewal at the age of 18 to register their fingerprints.” The Minister also affirmed that “the new card will feature a machine-readable area instead of the current barcode, as well as a pin code that will be printed on it.”
Mr. Leftit stated that “the said two elements enable accessing the version stored within the electronic chip within the card, including the information printed on the two sides of the card.” Besides, he said that “the new card will enable its holder to store additional optional information including their email address, their phone number, and the name and information of the person to call in cases of emergency.” The Minister also mentioned that “the new card exempts its holder from presenting their birth certificate, residency certificate, life certificate, and citizenship certificate.”
The national identity card includes a hidden encrypted chip and an unencrypted machine-readable area that can be scanned via adequate tools. The area stores digital safety certifications issued by the General Directorate for National Security (DGSN), which are encrypted electronic data related to the card and its holder.
The Government Bill stipulates that only the competent officials of National Security and the officials of Government and private entities entitled by the DGSN may use the information included in the electronic chip, especially for data retrieval and identity check. The enforcement of the new Government bill on the electronic national identity card does not nullify the previously issued cards, which remain valid until their expiry or the change of some of their contents.