- Tunisia biometric ID card and passport law approved by parliament
- Tunisia removes profession and the name of the spouse from the national ID cards
After years of delay and criticism from civil society over lacking data protection, the Tunisian parliament voted in favor of two draft laws on biometric identity cards and passports.
The Rights and Liberties Committee of the Assembly of the People’s Representatives greenlighted the Biometric ID and Passport Laws at the end of February. The draft laws were adopted on Wednesday with an overwhelming majority voting in favor.

Front Side | Back Side |
Republic of Tunisia National Identity Card – Flag and emblem of Tunisia National Identity Number (CIN) Family name Given name Given names of father and grandfather Date and place of birth Digitized ID photo | Name and given name of mother Profession/occupation Address Name of husband Date of issuance of CIN Digitized reproduction of right thumb with its sequential number Stamp of authority that issued it Barcode |
The two elements, profession and spouse name, are now removed from the new Tunisian national ID cards, the law has been published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia.
The biometric ID project will be implemented by the National Personal Data Protection Instance. Critics, however, claim that the data protection agency lacks the statutory powers to enforce solid data privacy and security measures.
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