Bulgarian court rules against fingerprint identification in hospitals

Bulagria’s Supreme Administrative Court has ruled that fingerprint identification in hospitals is not valid, according to a report by the Sofia News Agency.

Previously reported, it became mandatory on November 1st for patients using the National Health Insurance Fund to cover treatment expenses to verify their identity via fingerprint recognition when checking into hospitals in Bulgaria. The implementation of fingerprint recognition was planned for the beginning of October but the deadline was extended due to some medical establishments not purchasing fingerprint readers on time.

Earlier this week, the three-member court ruled that fingerprint identification in hospitals is to be terminated until the final ruling. “It is obvious in this case that the introduction of fingerprint identification, instead of a document which contains information about the health data of persons and grants access to the data in a virtual environment (an electronic health ID), complicates trans-border legitimisation. This contradicts EU legislation since it is aimed at unifying the type of identification in order to ensure movement, security and medical assistance in EU countries.”

The Health Ministry said that it will appeal the decision.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint authentication  |  healthcare  |  identity verification  |  privacy