Cuba to introduce modern, more secure ID cards

Cuba to introduce modern, more secure ID cards
Published October 16, 2014 EFE

Cuba will gradually introduce a more modern, durable and secure ID card
starting Oct. 29, the island's media reported, citing government officials.

The new ID cards, which are to be made of polycarbonate, a plastic-like
material, will be similar to a magnetic stripe card and their dimensions
will be in keeping with international standards, Interior Ministry
authorities said.

The new cards will be more durable and reduce the possibility of
identity theft, while also allowing "administrative processes to be
conducted with greater integration and speed as the country progresses
toward an information society," Communist Party daily Granma said.

The new cards will leverage the latest technologies and feature, among
other elements, biometric data, a hologram overlay, a digital signature
and photograph, security patterns and a machine readable zone.

The Interior Ministry said that in the coming years the ID card may
contain voice prints, iris scans and DNA data, "all of which will result
in an ID document that is more reliable and difficult to falsify," the
official daily Juventud Rebelde reported.

The cost of the new cards will be 25 Cuban ordinary pesos (approximately
$1).

Current Cuban ID documents, which will not have to be renewed
immediately if they are in good condition, are handwritten and in the
form of a booklet or laminated card. EFE

Source: Cuba to introduce modern, more secure ID cards | Fox News Latino
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http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/10/16/cuba-to-introduce-modern-more-secure-id-cards/