Fingerprint and digital photo: these are the new regulations for ID cards and passports

Passport and personal information should be counterfeit-proof. That is why citizens will have to pay attention to a lot, especially when it comes to photos. "Biometric" alone is no longer enough. But there is more that changes.

• A new draft law stipulates that photos for passports and ID cards may only be digital .
• It is not allowed to simply email the photo to the authorities or bring it on the USB stick.
• The changes also stipulate that children's ID cards should only be valid for one year.

Dortmund - Don't smile, stare straight at the camera, hair out of your face - everyone knows the procedure to get a biometric photo by now. In order for the - mostly unflattering - photo to be accepted by the authorities for passports or ID cards in the future , another hurdle will soon have to be overcome, reports RUHR24.de *. This is laid down in a bill that was passed by the federal government on June 3, 2020.

If you want to apply for a new ID , you will have to present the photo in digital form in the future . However, it is not enough to bring the photo on a data medium such as a USB stick. It is also not possible to simply send a photo to the office by e-mail. Instead, according to chip.de , applicants have two options for getting the photo to the authority.

Identity card: photos only digital - citizens have a choice

The first is very simple, but costs the applicant six euros. In this variant can be easily directly from the issuing authority on location shoot . 

The other option that citizens in Germany will soon have is a photo shop. However, the photos taken there must be forwarded directly to the authority by the photo shop via secure transmission . For the secure transmission, photographers must register in advance, according to the authorities.

Identity card and passport: Morphing should be prevented

These strict requirements are intended to prevent so-called " morphing ". "Morphing" merges images of the faces of several people into one picture. The photo then shows not just one person, but the facial features of two people. Both of them could then use an ID card with such a fake photo to go through a border control. The function of the passport * as a document for identity control is essentially threatened, according to the Interior Ministry.

New bill to make passport forgery more difficult.

© Sebastian Gollnow / dpa

The security against counterfeiting of the ID is also to be increased by a change in the submission of the fingerprints . So mote it in the future duty be that two fingerprints are taken by the applicant, which are stored on the ID card. The new provisions are intended to implement a regulation that will come into force around August 2021 (more articles in the service department at RUHR24 *).

ID for children is only valid for one year

Changes to the new bill also affect the validity of children's ID cards. Instead of six, the child's ID card should only be valid for one year. The children's ID card should still be handed over immediately. Parents can also apply for a biometric passport for their children. It should continue to be valid for six years.

In the future, only digital #Passbild | er will be accepted - and we can tell from our own experience why. Our # morphing research takes on the current # biometrics scam: https://t.co/TD6GAW0Utv pic.twitter.com/dABxc0Ync1

A change also affects prisoners who now have to deal with a new ID in good time. So far, they have been released from the obligation to have an identity card. As a result, former prisoners often do not have a valid ID * even after they have been released. In the future, prisoners will have to have a valid ID from the third month before release. Because without a passport, the return to everyday life is quickly problematic in the opinion of the legislators in freedom.

* RUHR24.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network

List of rubric lists: © Sebastian Gollnow / dpa