Digital version of Brazil’s new national identity card now available in some states

Some Brazilian states have begun issuing the digital version of the new Carteira de Identidade Nacional (National Identity Card), with nationwide rollout expected to happen by March 2023, per a report by Notícias Concursos.

The new digital ID cards, released by local governments in  Alagoas, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Pará, Paraíba, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, came into effect in August and replace the Registro Geral ID document (RG), which will remain in place till 2033.

According to the report, the digital version of the ID, which can be loaded onto a dedicated biometric mobile phone app, is designed to give Brazilians secure and easy access to services used in daily life.

With it, users can validate the digital version of the card by first downloading it on their device and then scanning the QR code, the article mentions, and the app download page makes clear that a selfie biometric check follows. The new version of the ID is not the same as the ID card which was unveiled by the government from 1 March this year.

The country’s new digital ID legislation devolves the powers of issuing national ID cards to the states, with the government assuring that the issuance of the new digital versions of the cards will be issued free of charge.

Concerns were expressed in a report earlier this year that Brazil may not have the data protection resources and equitable access necessary to avoid problems stemming from the new credentials.

Citizens with the old version of the cards can still use them for the next ten years and, according to the Notícias Concursos article, government authorities clarified that Brazilians who do not have access to the internet will be able to retain citizenship by keeping their existing paper RG IDs even beyond 2032.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Brazil  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  face biometrics  |  identity document