The deputies of the lower house of the Parliament plan to revise the norms of the controversial mandatory fingerprint registration law, QazMonitor reports citing Tengrinews.kz.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs initially planned to introduce nationwide registration starting January 1, 2024. However, the Parliament has now included a couple of draft amendments, abolishing the mandatory nature of the law for the citizens of Kazakhstan while still requiring registration from foreign nationals.
"An important change in the bill is the abolition of compulsory dactyloscopy, which was scheduled to be implemented at the Citizen Service Centers from January 1, 2024. This decision was initiated in response to numerous appeals, expert opinions on security issues, and concerns about the constitutional rights of citizens. Dactyloscopy will now be at the discretion of the citizen. At the same time, fingerprinting will remain mandatory for foreigners," said the lower house deputy Yekaterina Smyshlyayeva.
The law 'On Dactyloscopic and Genomic Registration' came into force on January 1, 2021. It mandates the collection and processing of fingerprint and genomic information of all citizens of Kazakhstan and foreign nationals living in the country, starting at the age of 16, with children aged 12 to 16 subject to fingerprinting only with their consent and in the presence of their parents or guardians.
The implementation of the law was postponed several times, with the latest scheduled date set for January 1, 2024.