Mexico makes biometric identifier mandatory for all citizens
Video from Sasaki Andi
The CURP, first introduced in 1996, is an 18-character alphanumeric code used for tax filings, school registrations, passport applications, and other official transactions. Until recently, its adoption was voluntary, allowing citizens and residents to opt into its use. The recent legislative amendment, approved last month and formalized through a decree, mandates its use for all Mexicans, with a gradual rollout expected to be completed by February 2026.
According to the Biometric Update, the Ministry of the Interior and the Digital Transformation Agency are tasked with creating a Unified Identity Platform within 90 days, while public and private institutions must update their systems to recognize the new identifier. Additionally, a national program to collect biometric data from children and adolescents is set to begin within 120 days.
Mexico Approves Biometric CURP ID, Transforming Identity Landscape and Missing Persons Search
WILL THE BIOMETRIC CURP BE MANDATORY IN MEXICO?
What is the discussion of the CURP with biometric data about?
The proposal was made by the Morena bench in 2021 and later, in 2023, it was taken up by senators Olga Sánchez Cordero and Mónica Fernández Balboa, under the name “CURP con foto”, which aims to repeal the General Population Law, enacted on the 7th. January 1974.
However, although on September 25, 2023, the proposal for a new General Population Law advanced in committees of the Senate of the Republic, three days later, on the 28th of the same month, the discussion stopped in the Plenary of the Senate of the Republic.
Until October 2024, the newly established LXVI Legislature has not discussed the issue, therefore has not been approved.
If it begins its discussion, advances and is approved, this reform would assign to the Ministry of the Interior, through the National Population Council, the responsibility of incorporating biometric data, such as fingerprints, in the new CURP with photography.
What data will the biometric CURP have?
According to the project, the CURP with photo will contain name and surname; Unique Population Registry Code; photograph of the owner; place of birth; birthdate; signature and fingerprints; and must be renewed no later than ninety days before its validity ends; which may not exceed 15 years.
In Xalapa, Veracruz, biometric data collection begins
The official of the Civil Registry of Xalapa, Joel Hernández Contreras, invited citizens to carry out the process of registering biometric data and explained that it is a project of the National Population Registry (Renapo) aimed at the next issuance of the Identification Card. Unique Identity.
Through a statement, it was detailed that this ID, which will eventually be mandatory, seeks to link the CURP with biometric data such as fingerprints, digital signature and iris scanning, which are personality traits attributable to a single person. person.
THE COLLECTION OF THESE DATA CAN BE CARRIED OUT ON PEOPLE OF ALL AGES, FROM NEWBORNS AND CHILDREN, TO OLDER ADULTS,
Xalapa City Council, Veracruz
The official said that to carry out the procedure, Veracruz citizens must go to the Civil Registry Office located on Bulevar Porfirio Díaz S/N, next to the Central de Abasto, and present the following documents:
- Official identification.
- CURP certified by the Civil Registry
- Email.
In the case of minors, the CURP of the minor and the father, mother or guardian must also be presented.
“It is a free procedure that takes 20 minutes and is carried out by Renapo-certified personnel. Data registration is carried out at the Official Office from Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.,” he explained.
Personal data is protected in accordance with the provisions of the General Law on Protection of Personal Data Held by Obligated Subjects and other applicable regulations.
source https://latin-american.news/will-the-biometric-curp-be-mandatory-in-mexico/
Mexico debates centralizing biometric citizen codes to search for missing persons
The Mexican government has taken another step toward turning the country’s biometric-based Unique Population Registry Code (Clave Única de Registro de Población – CURP) into an official national identity document and consolidating the unique citizen codes into one platform.
Members of the opposition, however, argue that centralizing biometric data through CURP could create a single point for cyberattacks and open the possibility of mass surveillance.
Last Thursday, the Senate’s joint committees on Government and Legislative Studies voted in favor of amendments to the General Population Law and the General Law on Enforced Disappearances, which would allow the country to gather the citizen identity codes into a single identity platform within 90 days.
The platform will be able to connect to various other state databases and administrative records, including the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons, the National Forensic Data Bank. But it will also connect to databases of employers and social security registries, as well as registries related to “financial, transportation, physical and mental health, telecommunications, education, private assistance, parcel and delivery services,” and more, El Financiero reports.
The biometric version of the CURP integrates biometric data such as face photographs, iris scans and fingerprints.
The Morena government and its allies have argued that the move will allow the country to combat the alarming trend of disappearances: The number of missing persons in Mexico is estimated to be over 111,000, while authorities have been discovering secret mass graves and cremation sites.
To speed up searches, government authorities and individuals who manage biometric databases will be required to provide information to agencies such as the Attorney General’s Office, state prosecutors’ offices, the National Intelligence Center, and other law enforcement agencies. CURPs will be able to be monitored in “real time to allow for comprehensive searches. According to the new regulation, the Ministry of the Interior will also integrate biometric data of children into the National Population Registry.
The new amendments still have to go through legislative procedure, where they are likely to meet resistance from members of PAN (National Action Party) and PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party).
“They’re trying to give the federal government the ability to type in your CURP and have access to information about any Mexican,” says PAN member Ricardo Anaya.
Other opposition figures claim that the government cannot guarantee that personal data will be protected. Although Mexican law says that data for CURP must be collected with consent, those who refuse to provide data are likely to remain stuck in bureaucratic limbo, according to PRI member Claudia Anaya.
Biometric data security has been a point of contention in Mexican politics. In 2021, the Supreme Court declared a biometric-based national register of mobile telephone users unconstitutional.
Civil rights groups have also noted that vulnerable groups who do not obtain a biometric CURP could be excluded from government services.
CURP’s planned transformation from a reference document to an identity document could also bring other changes. The new CURP, for instance, will be linked to the National Health System Registry and possibly other registries.
According to the currently debated Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law, mobile service providers will only be able to activate services for consumers who present an ID document containing a CURP. While the Mexican Association of Virtual Mobile Operators (AMONVAC) supports the regulation, some critics have questioned whether the move will represent an invasion of users’ privacy, according to El Economista.
Turning CUPR into an identity document could also make some other documents obsolete, including Voter ID cards.
