A controversial plan to fingerprint the entire nation should be scrapped, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.
The ministry said that the plan should be nixed in order to expedite the replacement of citizen identification cards by next July.
To do this, the ministry has proposed changing the Household Registration Law, which requires all citizens over the age 14 to have their fingerprints on record when they are issued a national identification card.
To date, the government has failed to implement this element of the law, citing budgetary constraints.
In addition, there have been disagreements between government departments over whether keeping a database of fingerprints is a violation of human rights.
Most countries don't have a nationwide system for fingerprinting. The program, if implemented, would cost an estimated NT$2 billion.
The ministry said yesterday that scrapping the fingerprint requirement would ensure that the ID cards of Taiwan's citizens are replaced on time.
The changes would need the cooperation of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Justice.
The two ministries use regulations under the Household Registration Law to track servicemen and criminals.
If the law is changed, both ministries would then have to find a new way to fingerprint both criminals and those who serve in the military. Currently, the only legal basis for the collection of fingerprints is the existing identification law.
The President's Advisory Group on Human Rights is opposed to the fingerprinting plan, saying it's a violation of individual human rights.
The Taiwan Association for Human Rights plans to launch an opposition campaign that would urge individuals not to re-register their ID cards.
On the other hand, the National Police Administration believes that the fingerprint database would help it in the investigation of criminal cases.
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