Enlarge image
The fingerprint becomes the authenticity feature for the identity card
Photo: Z1003 Jens Büttner / dpa
An EU regulation from 2019 is now mandatory in Germany: Anyone who applies for a new identity card from today must have the prints of both index fingers recorded.
With the digital storage on a chip in the identity card, counterfeiting is to be prevented.
The opposition criticizes the integration of the biometric feature in the ID card.
"This development is hostile to civil rights and constitutionally highly questionable," said the Green parliamentary deputy Konstantin von Notz of the editorial network Germany (RND).
He doubts that the data collection enables a real gain in security.
Fear of identity theft
Instead, there would be considerable dangers for the citizens, said von Notz.
"If the data gets into the wrong hands improperly, this results in permanent risks for those affected, since biometric data are practically unchangeable."
The deputy FDP parliamentary group leader Stephan Thomae also spoke of a "disproportionate means".
The mandatory storage of the fingerprint on the identity card brings with it considerable security risks.
"If unauthorized persons access the data, they could gain access to cell phones, finance portals and the like that are secured by fingerprints," he told the RND.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior defended the measure against criticism.
The storage of fingerprints is nothing new, this has also been done in passports for many years, said ministry spokesman Steve Alter.
After the production and delivery of the identity card, the fingerprints are deleted both at the manufacturer and in the authorities, so they are then only stored on the identity card itself.
As with the passport, only security authorities of the EU member states could read the fingerprints from the identity card for identification purposes if doubts about the identity remain after a photo comparison.
There is a »sophisticated authorization system« for this, stressed Alter.
Other states would not have access to the fingerprint data in the identity card.
tmk / dpa / AFP