RSS Feed
July 8th, 2016 
Awake Goy Interior Minister Arye Dery announced on Thursday that starting next year, joining the biometric database will be obligatory.
“From now on anyone obtaining a document from the Interior Ministry, whether an ID card or a passport, will receive a biometric one. We’ve decided on having this database and we’ll soon decide what will be included in it,” Dery said at a ceremony marking the millionth person to join the biometric database, which was held at the new Population and Immigration Authority office in south Tel Aviv.
“Israel is joining many other countries around the world which have concluded that their citizens should have smart and secure documentation. With all the attempts by various organizations to steal identities, it’s important to have a smart and reliable document,” Dery added. At the end of the ceremony he issued himself one.
“I’m not sure I’m the millionth, but we’re close. I’m issuing one for myself since I don’t have one yet. It’s the right and safe thing to do – there is nothing to worry about. There is nothing more secure than this database. People can remain calm, I can say with certainty – we have a secure database. Everything we do is for the benefit of our citizens,” he declared.
During the third quarter of 2015 there was a sharp drop in the number of people signing up. Only one quarter of people taking out new documents in that period opted for biometric ones. The Population Authority released data showing that between last November and May there was a rise in these numbers, with 31 percent opting for biometric documentation.
The rate of people choosing biometric documents goes up with age, except for people who are 80 years old or older. There are gender differences, with somewhat more men who signed up during the pilot phase. Twenty-four percent of people who signed on never returned to pick them up. From August, these documents will be mailed to people for whom they were issued.
The pilot phase began in July 2013 and was supposed to end after two years. However, it was extended twice. Former Interior Minister Silvan Shalom assumed his post a month and a half before the end of the pilot, and requested more time to study the issue. The Knesset approved his request and extended the pilot by nine months, ending in March of this year.
Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blacklistednews/hKxa/~3/3mVAlTUif6c/M.html
Posted in 
Tags: 
