Personal data on a passport or identity card
A passport or an identity card contains several personal data. Including some data that organisations need to handle with extra care. Failure to do so will result in privacy risks. For example, there is a risk of identity fraud if organisations make copies of identity documents and then secure them poorly. This is why strict rules apply for what organisations are allowed to do with the identity documents of people.
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Personal data on a passport or identity card
A passport or an identity card contains several personal data. These personal data can also be found on the (hidden) chip incorporated in your passport or identity card. The only difference is that your passport photo on the chip is in colour and the photo on your passport or identity document itself is in black and white.
The chip of the passport as well as the identity card contains the following data:
- first name or names;
- last name;
- birthdate;
- birthplace;
- gender;
- height;
- nationality;
- citizen service number (Dutch BSN);
- passport photo;
- fingerprints.
Fingerprints on a chip
The chip in the passport and the identity card contains 2 fingerprints. You are obliged to have yourself fingerprinted when you apply for a passport or an identity card. Children under the age of 12 do not have to give fingerprints.
Your municipality temporarily stores your fingerprints in the administration of travel documents. Have you picked up the passport or identity card you applied for? Then your fingerprints will automatically disappear from the administration.
Your fingerprint is a biometric personal data. And that is a special category of personal data if it is used for the purpose of identifying you.
Special categories of personal data on a passport or identity card
Your fingerprint is not the only special category of personal data in your passport. Your passport photo is also a special category of personal data if your race/ethnicity or religion can be derived from it.
BSN on a passport or identity card
Your passport or identity card contains your citizen service number (BSN). This is not a special category of personal data, but it is a sensitive personal data. Criminals may abuse the BSN for identity fraud.
QR code with BSN
Do you have a passport or identity card that was issued on or after 30 August 2021? Then your passport or identity card has a QR code with your BSN number in it. This QR code can be found on the reverse side of your ID card or on the reverse side of the inside page (the page with your passport photo) of your passport.
The BSN is therefore no longer on the front of the ID card or on the front of the inside page of the passport. This means that the BSN is no longer visible in a copy, scan or photo of the front. This reduces the risk of identity fraud.
As the QR code contains the BSN, organisations are not allowed to read out the QR code without a good reason. This is because organisations are only allowed to process the BSN if a law says so.
Reading out the chip in a passport or identity card
Organisations that have a document reader can use this to read out the chip in your passport or identity card. Whether an organisation is allowed to read out and store your personal data from the chip depends on the purpose. It is only allowed in exceptional cases. This is the case, among other things, when the law says so.
The fingerprints in the chip in your passport can only be read out by authorities where you can apply for an identity document with a chip, such as your municipality. Other authorities in the Netherlands and abroad can only access the fingerprints in the chip when they have been authorised by the Dutch government to do so.