THE CHURCH yesterday warned that it would call on the faithful to resist government plans to introduce a ‘smart’ identity card.
In a statement issued after a meeting yesterday, the Holy Synod called on the government to reverse its decision to issue the smart cards from June this year.
"We hope that the state will realise the dangers and problems stemming from the introduction of this idea," the Synod announcement said. "If it doesn’t, the Holy Synod will have to call on the faithful to refuse the new identity cards and continue to place their hopes in Jesus Christ."
The Synod, which has already set up a special committee to deal with the issue, is calling on the government and the House of Representatives to find alternatives to the new cards, which will not "jeopardise the private life and dignity of the citizen".
The Interior Ministry has already received the prototype of the new electronic card, which is to replace current identity cards.
The new cards will initially be issued to children reaching the age of 12. Adults can exchange their old cards for the newer ‘smart’ version whenever they wish.
The Ministry has dismissed Church concerns that a bar code on the cards might contain the apocalyptic number ‘666’. Officials said personal information would be contained on a chip, and would not include the ‘number of the beast’ as described in the Book of Revelations.
The Synod announcement does not make any reference to the biblical connotations. It concerns itself only with the possible violation of human rights that might stem from the cards.
"The recording of information on a person’s life on an identity card degrades the person by turning them into a number instead of a person," the Synod said.
"There are a lot of dangers involved because today there is no way of safekeeping data and the information could be used in other ways or used by unauthorised people. The Church cannot condone the targeting of any person by means of information kept in clandestine files."
According to the Interior Ministry, the microchip fitted on the new cards is capable of storing four kilobytes of information on an individual, though for the foreseeable future it will only contain the same information as the regular identity card.
This is because government services such as hospitals and police are not yet equipped to deal with the cards. Extending the scope of the cards to include driving licence, passport or health details would require changes in the law.
The Ministry has said information on the cards will only be accessible to government officials.
"The new cards are replacing the old ones, nothing more, nothing less," a Ministry official said.
