Mexico’s biometric CURP now officially in use despite data security concerns

Mexico’s biometric CURP has become the country’s official personal biometric identification despite lingering concerns from rights advocates about data privacy and security.

The national ID went into official use on October 16 and public and private sector institutions are now expected to accept it as the official identity for service access.

Mexicans who participated in a pilot are already receiving their IDs, The Yucatan Times reports. It quotes the head of the National Population Registry (Renapo), Arturo Arce Vargas, as reiterating that the biometric CURP is optional for a start.

In the first quarter of next year, precisely by the month of February, the biometric CURP will become mandatory, the he adds, meaning that every citizen will be required to possess it in order to access services in the public and private sector.

For now, the biometric CURP is already a requirement for transactions like access to medial services and patient records, bank account opening and loans, immigration and naturalization procedures, social protection programs, and school registration.

The biometric CURP which is a modernized biometrics-based version of Mexico’s existing Unique Population Registry Code (CURP) has faced criticisms from several quarters since it was gazetted by the government in July. Some courts in the country even issued injunctions calling for a halt to its issuance in some parts of Mexico after complainants filed petitions.

While the government has explained that the system is necessary to protect people’s identity and facilitate the search for missing persons which is a common phenomenon in the country, critics say it would violate human rights if necessary safeguards are not in place.

Given that the CURP involves face, fingerprint and iris biometrics collected from citizens, cybersecurity experts have called on the government to put in place appropriate measures to guarantee data protection.

Last month, the biometric CUPR was linked to a secure digital ID platform to facilitate authentication, and the government has also engaged in a contact to secure cloud services for the biometric identity system as part of data security measures.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Clave Única de Registro de Población (CURP)  |  digital ID  |  government services  |  identity management  |  Mexico  |  national ID