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.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometric identifiers  |  biometrics  |  Clave Única de Registro de Población (CURP)  |  forensics  |  identity management  |  Mexico  |  missing persons  |  national ID