Vietnam to collect biometrics – even DNA – for new ID cards

From theregister.com

The Vietnamese government will begin collecting biometric information from its citizens for identification purposes beginning in July this year.

Prime minister Pham Minh Chinh instructed the nation’s Ministry of Public Security to collect the data in the form of iris scans, voice samples and actual DNA, in accordance with amendments to Vietnam’s Law on Citizen Identification.

The ID cards are issued to anyone over the age of 14 in Vietnam, and are optional for citizens between the ages of 6 and 14, according to a government news report.

Ammendments to the Law on Citizen Identification that allow collection of biometrics passed on November 27 of last year.

The law allows recording of blood type among the DNA-related information that will be contained in a national database to be shared across agencies “to perform their functions and tasks.”

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