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Deutsch: Rumänische Regierung plant elektronische ID-Karten

The Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration (MAI) submitted for public consultation, in the middle of August 2010, a new draft Ordinance for issuing mandatory electronic ID cards for Romanians starting with 1 January 2011.

Even though the decision of having an electronic ID card was taken in 2002 by Ordinance 69/29.08.2002, the practical implementation has been postponed several times since then, due to financial difficulties. Following the public outcry at the beginning of the 2010 against the biometric passports, there was no surprise that the new act suggested by the MAI has been received with concerns by the civil society.

According to the draft Ordinance, the new ID card will be obligatory for all citizens over 14 years old and optional for children from 6 years old and will include biometric data (2 fingerprints and the facial image) that will be stored on a chip in the ID card. The chip will include also other data, such as an electronic signature provided by the MAI. A similar eID card would be required for all other residents in Romania. The justification of the draft ordinance did not include any information regarding the possible problems of the current ID card or the security and privacy impact assessment of the new legal text. The only reference made was to the forthcoming accession of Romania to the Schengen treaty and the STORK programme, which will create the possibility of inter-operability between eID cards.

A hastily organized public meeting of the MAI with NGOs on the 20 August 2010 (the final date for public comments) revealed that Ministry could not provide any good reason why the new ID card was needed. Or why it needs to be promoted in such a rush. The Ministry representatives could not give any figures regarding current IDs cards falsified and used in illegal purposes or even a specific reason, besides "increased security", for having the fingerprints stored in the smart chip. They also said that we could not speak about fingerprinting, since there were "just two fingerprints stored." The authorities also claimed that the security features of the project (which are not publicly available in any document) - such as using the contactless technology instead of RFID, not having a central database of fingerprints, access to the biometric data on the eID card only with the consent of the card's holder, limited number of people having access to the data and only with a state-issued digital certificate etc. - would be enough to have an ID increased security and thus safer travelling in the European Union.

The participants in the meeting from the civil society expressed their disapproval for such a system that would cost the Romanian Government 32 million Euros +VAT. They claimed that the obligation to have an eID card was an useless and disproportional measure. Arguments related with human rights or freedom of conscience, as defined by the Romanian Constitution and ECHR, or current privacy legal framework were used to try to allow the possibility of at least an alternative for the people that don't want to have the electronic ID card.

A statement from the Romanian Data Protection Authority from the same day, 20 August 2010, expressed its negative opinion on the draft Ordinance, but claimed that the major change needed to consider only the minimum age, which should be 14 years old. But this is just information from their press release and the opinion, as such, has not been made public yet.

Several positions of the civil society expressed after the meeting - from the Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania-the Helsinki Committee, Institute for Public Policies, Activewatch or EDRi-member APTi have demanded the withdrawal of the current act and a significant privacy and security assessment of the project, if it is re-submitted later.

MAI representatives concluded that they would further on study the problems raised, but gave no answer if there would be any future meetings. The decision could have been taken also before the meeting since a public body (RAAPPS) has already started the procedure for the public acquisition of the eID technology with a public notice of acquisition made on 19 August 2010 with the process to start 7 days later.

Draft Ordinance on eID cards (only in Romanian, 12.08.2010)
http://www.mai.gov.ro/Documente/Transparenta%20decizionala/Proiect%20O...

Justification of the eID cards Ordinance (only in Romanian,12.08.2010)
http://www.mai.gov.ro/Documente/Transparenta%20decizionala/NF%20OUG%20...

APADOR-CH comments on the eID cards Ordinance (only in Romanian, 20.08.2010)
http://www.apador.org/show_report_nf.php?id=181

Public Policy Institute - Stop the 30 million deal on eID that we don't need (only in Romanian, 23.08.2010)
http://bit.ly/axJCGz

Common position of APTI, Activewatch, CJI, MediaSind and Accept on eID Ordinances (only in Romanian, 23.08.2010)
http://legi-internet.ro/blogs/media/blogs/a/scrisoare%20MAI%20CI%20bio...

Negative Opinon of the Romanian DPA for the eID for under 14 (only in Romanian, 20.08.2010)
http://www.dataprotection.ro/?page=Aviz_negativ_al_Autoritatii_pentru_...

ENISA: Privacy Features of European eID Card Specifications (01.2009)
http://www.enisa.europa.eu/act/it/eid/eid-cards-en