Public Services News Citizen's Card Launched Citizen's Card Launched
- 14/02/2007
The new identification document for Portuguese citizens, the Citizen's Card, was officially presented on 14th February at the Teatro Faialense in the city of Horta. The card will first be available to citizens of the island of Faial in the Autonomous Region of the Azores and is planned to reach the entire country by 2008.
This new document includes various physical security aspects and also features electronic authentication by qualified digital signature. It replaces the I.D. Card, Taxpayer’s Card, Social Security Card, National Health Service User Card and, as soon as the Electoral System Law is revised, the Voter Card.
The new identification document dovetails with the policy defined by the European Union, which foresees the adoption by national systems of electronic identification with high standards of security and which respect national and community directives on personal data protection by 2010.