Citizen Information Project

Final report: Annex 6: Population Registers Overseas Version Control

Date of Issue 21st June 2005

Version Number 1.0

Version Date Author Reason for Change

1.0 21/6/2005 A Park Final report Metadata

Coverage UK Creator Office for National Statistics, General Register Office, Citizen Information Project Team Date Issued 21/6/2005 Language English Publisher Office for National Statistics, 1 Drummond Gate, London, SW1V 2QQ Status Approved by Project Manager Subject Population Registers Overseas Subject.category Public Administration Title Citizen Information Project: Annex 6: Population Registers Overseas Contents

1.1 Preface …………………………………………………………….……………..…… 5

1.2 Summary ……………………………………………………………………………… 5

1.3 Overview ……………………………………………………………………………… 5

1.4 Appendix 1 Summaries CIP Research on Population Registers ……….….. 8

1.5 Appendix 2 Sweden – An Integrated Approach ……………………………….. 9

1.6 Appendix 3 Overview by Country ……………………………………………….. 16

4 1.1 Preface

This paper examines the various population registration systems in use throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Whilst it is not comprehensive outside of the European Union, it does attempt to cover the major world nations relevant to this exercise. As part of defining a population register for the UK it is beneficial to look at what is in existence in other countries and learn from their experiences. Population registration is not a new concept, it can take various forms and serve assorted purposes depending on how and why it originally came in to being for each country. Comprehensive data are not available for all countries either because it is not published or it has not been possible to translate data from the native language.

1.2 Summary

Population registers are widely used (see appendix 1 for more details), especially in conjunction with identity cards. Many other countries have adopted a population register system, for example 20 out of 25 EU members have one.

The most integrated population registration systems have grown out of existing parish/municipal schemes.

All countries that currently operate a population register have a written constitution, bar .

Data protection legislation is in place in all countries that have a population register – except Singapore where there are no data protection or privacy laws

In general, the countries that operate a register have relatively small populations. The average population is under 10 million. The exceptions being the Netherlands, Poland and Spain with 16, 38 and 40 million inhabitants respectively..

1.3 Overview

Many other countries have adopted a population register system; for example 20 out of 25 EU members have one. Each population register provides current information on who lives in the country and where they live. Population register systems are intended to meet all public administrative needs for this basic information and in many countries, the information is also available for use by companies and organisations fore commercial and other non-official needs.

Many European population registers have emerged from a historical system of parish or municipal registration; some of these go back centuries. Having registration embedded as part of the culture is undoubtedly an advantage. The familiarity of the population with an existing system of registration appears to help acceptance by the population, smooth

5 integration when more sophisticated systems are introduced and their purpose expanded.

Countries with larger populations tend to administer their registers at a municipal level. The Russian government, who approved a proposal to create a state population register in December 2004, currently manage population registration locally but will linking those systems (and government services) by issuing a new, unique universal identifier to each resident either at birth or after having contact with various government agencies. The identifiers are intended to allow access to updated identification information about a person, at any time, from the newly created register. All countries that found to currently operate a population register have a written constitution, bar Israel which uses a more informal arrangement of the 1948 Declaration of Establishment, and Israeli law. In general, the countries that operate a register have relatively small populations. The average population is under 10 million. The exceptions being the Netherlands, Poland and Spain with 16, 38 and 40 million inhabitants respectively. The Netherlands has operated a municipal-level population registration system since the mid-19th century. Poland has had a constant measure of the population since 1790 and, more recently, has introduced a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) based on the Nordic model. Spain’s registration system is maintained at a municipal level and has been in existence since at least the 1700’s when the church kept parish records. Whilst the population register in the majority of countries will come under the umbrella of the Ministry of the Interior, there is quite often a strong link with the national statistics office even if that department doesn’t look after day-to-day operations. More advanced countries are adopting, or moving towards, register-based statistics with a view to replacing the census altogether.

Although there is no EU directive covering population registration, individual countries already share learning in order to improve and even harmonise their systems. Some have even gone as far as developing reciprocal agreements permitting certain data to be shared across borders. The Nordic and Baltic States are advanced in this area. Having discovered the extent of double counting due to population migration, neighbouring countries have agreed co-operation contracts to regulate exchange of the data between respective registers with the aim of improving data quality It is encouraging to note that contemporaries abroad consider the CIP, to be making a positive step in terms of implementing this type of registration system. In fact, they are surprised that the UK has not done it sooner. It is recognised however that population size and legacy systems can influence the ease with which this can be done.

Whilst, in many countries, population registration comes under the umbrella of the Ministry of the Interior, there is quite often a strong link with the national statistics office, even if that department doesn’t look after day-to-day operations.

Data protection legislation is in place in all countries that have a population register – except Singapore where there are no data protection or privacy laws – EU members adhere to directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament as interpreted by their respective Information Commissioner or Regulator. Countries with well-established and integrated population registers such as Norway, Spain and Sweden go one step further

6 with specific legislation that lays out the rights and responsibilities of both the citizen and the state.

Supporting Appendixes:

Appendix 1 summarises CIP research on population registers;

Appendix 2 provides a detailed description of the Swedish model and

Appendix 3 provides an overview by country.

7 Appendix 1 Summaries CIP Research on Population Registers

Population Constitution ID Cards Pop. Reg. PPSN EU Member

Austria 8,174,762 a a a a a Australia 19,913,144 a r r r Belgium 10,348,276 a a a r a Bulgaria 7,517,973 a a a r Canada 32,507,874 a r r r China 1,298,847,624 a a r Cyprus 775,927 a a a Czech Republic 10,246,178 a a a a Denmark 5,413,392 a r a a a Estonia 1,341,664 a a a a a Finland 5,219,732 a a a a a France 60,424,213 a a a a Germany 82,424,609 a a a Greece 10,647,529 a a a Hungary 10,032,375 a a a Iceland 293,966 a a a a r Ireland 3,969,558 a r r a a Israel 6,199,008 r a r r Italy 58,057,447 a a r a a Japan 127,333,002 a r r r Latvia 2,306,306 a a a a Lithuania 3,607,899 a r a a a Luxembourg 462,690 a a a a Malta 369,851 a a r a Netherlands 16,258,032 a a a a a New Zealand 3,883,817 a r r r Norway 4,574,560 a a a a r Poland 38,626,349 a a a a a Portugal 10,524,145 a a a Russia 143,782,338 a r a r Singapore 4,353,893 a a r Slovakia 5,423,567 a a a Slovenia 2,011,473 a a a a a South Africa 42,718,530 a a r r Spain 40,280,780 a a a a a Sweden 8,986,400 a a a a a Switzerland 7,450,867 a a r r Turkey 68,893,918 a a r UAE 2,523,915 a a r United States 293,027,571 a r r a r United Kingdom 68,893,918 r r r r a

= requires further investigation

8 Appendix 2 Sweden – An Integrated Approachi

The population registration system is the basic register of the Swedish population. At its most simple it provides current information on who lives in the country and where they live, however it also does much more as the subsequent sections will describe.

Sweden’s system is representative – if not the most advanced – of those in other Nordic and Baltic countries. It serves as an excellent example of a register fully integrated with public administration, making use of personal reference numbers in a system that works both for the public sector and the people. The UK should look to Sweden a role model in the creation of its own system of population registration.

History

Population registration in Sweden was originally administered by the church as far back as 1571. The first national regulation on parish registration dates back to 1686 when the clergy acquired the duty to keep catechetical lists of the whole population. Over time the church registers also came to be used by secular society for taxation and statistics, social care and schools. The priests were therefore instructed to forward information from their registers to various civilian authorities. An important step was taken in 1947 when personal identity numbers were introduced for every registered person. This became very useful when civil registration was computerised in the 1960s. Once a person has been given a personal identity number they retain it for life unless it has to be corrected as a result of some error in numbering.

On 1 July 1991 responsibility for population registration was transferred from the Swedish Church to the tax authorities. There are currently ten tax authorities, each responsible for a region, in turn each region contains a number of tax offices, where the majority of the business is done. This means that the tax office also functions as local population registration authority. There are altogether 116 tax offices in Sweden.

Sweden has nearly nine million inhabitants. In 1997 population registration occupied the equivalent of 614 full-time employees and the cost of activities was SEK 381 m. Each year the tax offices issue some 1.8 million certificates and deal with approximately two million items of population registration business. Of these approximately half are changes of address, 92k births, 41k marriages, 29k divorces and 96k deaths (1998 figures). These items involve approximately 2.6m notifications of changes to other authorities and organisations annually.

Personal Identity Number

The tax authority allocates a personal identity number once a new-born child is first registered in the local population records. In addition personal identity numbers are allocated to people who immigrate into Sweden who have not previously had a personal identity number.

The personal identity number has become widely used as an identity code not only in population registration but also in other administrative areas, e.g. for taxation, as a

9 conscript number, for national insurance, driving licence and registration, and in the education system.

The personal identity number is also widely used outside the public sector, for example in company accounting procedures and the registers of insurance companies and banks. It is common for the personal identity number to be used as a search code in computerised registers and as a link when collating more than one register. One such form of collation occurs when notification of change of address is forwarded from the population registry to other personal registers in the community.

Population registration legislation

Ongoing population registration takes place locally at each tax office. Activities are regulated by two acts, the Population Registration Act and the Population Registers Act, both of which came into effect on 1 July 1991.

The Population Registration Act contains a definition of the term Population registration and also states when and where a person has to be registered, when change of address has to be reported and how a population registration decision may be appealed against. The act is supplemented by a population registration ordinance, which includes rules prescribing that certain other authorities should furnish the population registry with information concerning addresses.

The Population Registers Act states which registers must be kept, the purpose of the registers, what they may contain and how one may search in them. The Act is supplemented by an ordinance on population registers, which states, among other things, when information is to be transferred between the different registers.

Population registration business is also affected by other legislation, e.g. legislation on marriages and names. The tax office issues certificates relating to eligibility to enter into marriage on the basis of the population records and a person wishing to change his name may in certain cases do this by notifying the tax office, which will then make the relevant amendment to the population records.

An important principle, known as the principle of public access to official records, is contained in one of Sweden's constitutional laws, the Freedom of the Press Act. The principle implies that any person is entitled to study official documents. In this way people are ensured a right of insight into the activities of the authorities and the opportunity of inspecting and discussing them. However in certain cases exceptions must be made to the right of access with regard to particularly sensitive information. These exceptions are stated in a special Official Secrecy Act.

As far as population registration is concerned, the principle of public access means that anybody normally has the right to obtain information from the population registers (subject to exceptions.)

The local population registers

Each tax office keeps a local register of the population in its area of operation. For each person the register has particulars of

10 · Personal identity number · Name · Residence (address, property, county, municipality and parish where the person resides) · Civil status · Parents, spouse, children, guardian of children under the age of 18, adoption · Place of birth · Nationality · Immigration from abroad · Removal from the population registers (due to death, migration abroad or other circumstance) · Place of burial

The register contains both current and historical information plus the date of amendment of the particulars.

In conjunction with the local population register an official record (daybook) is kept of incoming registration business.

Access from terminals to a local population register is obtained from tax offices within the region where the register is kept. Search routines using the personal identity number as a search code make it possible to obtain many different combinations of personal particulars, such as the relations of a person, who is registered at a particular property and what names a person has had.

How the information in the population register comes in

The local tax office is responsible for receiving information that is to be recorded in the register and checking that the information may lawfully be recorded and entered. The information may then be supplied to different users, either by the issue of extracts from the register on paper directly to private individuals, or by automatic notification of larger users.

The tax office where a person is registered decides on amendment of particulars in the population register. Decisions on registration of change of address are taken by the tax office for the area to which the person moves. In cases of movement between the geographical areas covered by different tax offices all information on the person moving is automatically transferred from the population records of the earlier office to the new one.

Each person who is resident in Sweden must be registered for population purposes. One is registered where one resides and one is considered to reside where one regularly - at least once a week - takes one's nightly rest or corresponding rest. A person migrating into Sweden is registered for population purposes if he intends to reside in Sweden for at least one year. A person is de-registered if they intend to reside outside Sweden for at least one year. A person who dies is removed from the register.

11 It is up to the individual to report certain particulars for inclusion in the population register personally. However the majority of the particulars are sent into the tax office by other agencies.

Information which the individual must submit

Under the Population Registration Act the birth of a child must be reported to the tax office within a month. The parents must inform the tax office of the child's name within three months. A person who changes address must report this within a week. The information may be given to the post office or the social insurance office, which will then forward it to the tax office. A person may also request a separate postal address to be recorded in the population register as well as the address of the place of abode.

Information to the population registry must be given in writing.

Fines may be levied on individuals for non-compliance with the population registration Act.

Information from other agencies

· The person officiating at a marriage has to inform the tax office of the marriage. The corresponding requirement applies to courts, which grant divorces. · Courts have to inform the tax office when they have decided on the paternity of a child, on adoption and on custody of a child. · A doctor who has ascertained that a person has died has to inform the tax office of this. · The authority, which arranges burial, has to inform the tax authority of where the deceased has been buried.

In order to be able to register the place of abode of the population, the tax office automatically receives lists of postal addresses and property designations from the responsible authorities, the post office and the National Land Survey.

The tax office issues register extracts to private individuals free of charge. Such extracts may be issued for numerous different purposes, e.g. court business, employment and marriage. The purpose determines which information from the register will be included in the extract.

Notification register

The information in the population register is transferred from the tax offices to other authorities via a central notification register, which is kept by the National

Tax Board. Rules governing the register are contained in a special act of parliament, the Notification Register Act of 1995.

The notification register contains details of all people who are registered for population purposes in the country or who have been allocated a personal identity number for reasons other than civil registration. In the case of a person registered for population purposes the current information contained in the local population register is shown.

12 The notification register is updated daily with the changes which are made in the local population registers.

The particulars which may be used for searching in the notification register are personal identity number, name and address and other information concerning where a person is registered, e.g. property and municipality.

Use may also be made of nationality (in the Nordic countries or the EU) and spouse, parents, children and legal guardians. Certain administrative data such as date of registration may also be used for searching.

In addition to ongoing notification of information in the population register the notification register may be used for retrieval of selections of personal particulars for special purposes, e.g. for drawing up lists of voters for general elections.

Authorities which use the notification register

A large number of authorities whose business requires information concerning the population obtain this from the notification register. Depending on the needs of the authority, this may be done in the form of

· Continuous notification of information which has been amended concerning persons whom the receiving authority is entitled to have in its own register · Selective notification, selection of a group of persons with the aid of different search concepts or with an input file · Terminal access, the possibility of searching in the notification register · Computer-computer access, the possibility of obtaining a personal item with the aid of the customer's own application.

Agreements between the National Tax Board and the receiving authority regulate how the information is to be retrieved. A charge is made for utilisation of the notification register, unless the government decides otherwise. The National Tax Board decides on the fees charged.

Authorities using the notification register include

· Statistics Sweden, which keeps a register of the whole population for statistical purposes · The National Police Board, which is responsible for registers within the police and judicial system · The National Social Insurance Board, which keeps registers for the payment of child allowance, sickness allowance and national basic pension · The National Service Administration, which keeps a register of conscripts and others with duties within the defence forces · The National Land Survey, which keeps registers of property owners · The National Road Administration, which keeps a register of driving licence holders and vehicle owners · The Swedish Immigration Board, which keeps a register of non-Nordic nationals resident in Sweden

13 · Municipalities, which keep registers of for instance children of school age within their area.

Another important recipient of information from the notification register is the Swedish Population and Address Register (SPAR), which has been set up in order to satisfy commercial and other non-official needs for population register information. Many companies and organisations utilise this register to update their customer registers or to make a selection for direct mail advertising or information. A specific law regulates the activities of this registry.

Monitoring of changes of address

For population registration to be able to fulfil its function in society it is important for it to reflect the actual settlement of the population. The tax office has therefore to ensure continuously that all persons who are resident within its area of activity - and no others - are also registered there. In most cases a person's current residence is registered from the notice of change of address which he has a duty to give under the Population Registration Act. However the tax office also checks other information indicating that a person is resident somewhere other than where he is registered for population purposes. Such information may sometimes come from other authorities. A number of authorities whose business involves many contacts with the public have a duty to inform the tax office when they receive information that a person may have an address which is not registered in the population registry. Examples of such authorities include the social insurance offices, the municipalities and the National Road Administration, i.e. the authority which is responsible for registration of vehicles and issue of driving licences.

Other cases, which indicate that the registered address may be incorrect, arise when tax cards/notices do not reach the addressee at the recorded address and are therefore returned to the tax office.

The tax office may also, on its own initiative, carry out checks of the residence of the population, for example by requiring information from property owners in a particular area concerning who is resident in their properties. Under the Population Registration Act property owners have a duty to provide such information at the request of the tax office.

If the tax office receives information indicating that a person's registration is not correct this person shall first be given the opportunity to comment on the information and to report change of address. In the last resort, however, the tax office may amend his population registration without information from the individual concerned.

Other checks

In addition to monitoring of change of address, other measures are also taken to check and maintain the quality of the population registers. For example there is an automatic check that persons who have a family relationship, e.g. parents and children, have register particulars that are mutually compatible.

Another method of checking is to have a selection of persons in a survey report whether their own particulars are correctly recorded in the population register. For example a survey was carried out in a particular area, the County of Västernorrland, in 1996. Ten thousand persons then received an extract from the population register showing their

14 particulars. Of those asked, 94 % replied, and the number of incorrect items which were discovered was 201, representing 1.7 per thousand of all the particulars checked.

A further stage in the quality check is provided by following up how quickly an item of registration business is dealt with by the tax offices. Of approximately 2 million items processed annually, some 60 % are completed within 2 days. The quality of processing is monitored by follow-up of randomly chosen items.

A provision is made in the Personal Information Act to allow individuals to receive a statement once a year, free of charge, showing all the particulars about them in the register. This right applies to all authorities and others who keep any sort of register of personal particulars.

Authorisation

In order to access to the population registration system it is necessary to possess authorisation, of which there are several levels. The level varies according to whether the person is a system administrator, the director of a tax office, an executive officer, a clerical officer or a member of the general public.

A person using the system has a pass card with a code number, which only the holder should know. The code is changed for security reasons at regular intervals or if it may be assumed that any outside person has learned of it.

Members of the general public are entitled to sit at a terminal with authorisation that gives access to names and addresses of registered persons and to statements of which items of business have been received by the tax office. To obtain access to other particulars in the population registers it is necessary for members of the public to turn to executive officer at the tax office.

All amendments (registrations) made to the local population register and the daybook are simultaneously recorded in a separate transaction log, where it is possible, if necessary, to trace who has done what and when.

15 Appendix 3 Overview by country

Austria:

Central register built up from census data. Residents are legally obliged to register changes of address within three days. Citizen Card launched in November 2000. The card number is an encrypted version of the individuals register (ZMR) number. Sector specific identification numbers are derived from the base identification number, it makes it possible for authorities to retrieve data, but they are unable to deduce the base ZMR number, access or link to data sets held by other authorities by trying to compare numbers.

Australia:

There is no population register scheme. A census is conducted every five years. Attempts to introduce identity cards in the 1980’s failed.

Belgium:

The national, computerised population register was set up in 1967. It is a central register, although administered municipally. Residents are required by law to supply their information to the authorities within 8 days of arrival; the main residence must be registered. There is no specific number associated with the register.

Bulgaria:

In 1978, Bulgaria introduced a unified system for population registration and administrative service to the population called ESGRAON. This administrative system mandates that all individuals residing in the country are assigned a unique personal identification number that is used as an identifier in almost all administrative affairs. The system is administered municipally. The same agency is responsible for civil registration, the maintenance of the population register and the production of vital statistics.

Canada:

There is no identity card or population registration system for Canada.

China:

There is no population register for China although the paper identity card scheme is being transitioned to electronic ID cards, which will include a unique 18-digit number.

Cyprus:

A Eurostatii study indicates that a population register and some form of personal identification number used for administrative purposes is employed in Cyprus.

16 Czech Republic:

The Czech Republic has identity cards, personal identification numbers for census and a population register run at municipal level. Minimal English language information available.

Denmark:

There has been a central population register in existence in Denmark since 1968 - although parish records were kept for centuries before that - with the first actual registration of the entire population taking place at municipal level in 1924. The centralised register along with the associated personal identification number came about through a pressing need for information about general personal data, especially addresses, and the need for a general identification of individuals that could be used throughout public administration.

Estonia:

Registration and documentation of Estonian population commenced in 1918. In the 1990’s the system was computerised gathering information from municipalities and public institutions. The register covers the total resident population and includes an 11-digit personal reference number that is issued at birth. There are specific laws covering population register in addition to data protection law. Estonia has agreements with both Finland and Sweden to exchange data on citizens residing in the other’s country.

Finland:

There has been a system of population registration in Finland since 1544. Registration is compulsory. Register information is stored and maintained by local register offices although data is shared with various central authorities for numerous administration and decision-making purposes. Change of address information is relayed automatically from the population information system (PIS) to several authorities. PIS also contains data on buildings and residences. The Population Register Centre supplies the digital certificates used in Finnish ID cards. Having an ID card and reader allows an individual to check and update their own details electronically.

France:

The National Identification Register of Private Individuals (Repertoire National d’ldentification des Personnes Physiques: RNIPP provides each French resident with a 13-digit identification number to be used in dealings with government agencies and social-protection organisations. Although there is no central population register as such, regional registers serve as a base for demographic studies.

Germany:

Data protection legislation in Germany prohibits the centralised storage of personal data, therefore there is a population register in each municipality (over 13-thousand). Registration is compulsory, as is notification of change of address. Secondary places of residence also have to be recorded.

17 Greece:

According to Eurostatiii there is no population register or personal identification number in use in Greece. However identity cards have been employed since the 1940s.

Hungary:

A Eurostativ report indicates that a population register and administrative personal identification numbers are in use. No additional information has been located.

Iceland:

All living Icelanders, as well as all foreign citizens with permanent residence in Iceland, have a 10-digit personal identification number identifying them in the National Registry. Registration is compulsory and has been in effect since 1952.

India:

Office of the Registrar General implemented a pilot project in 2003 to collect information in preparation for implementation of a population register.

Ireland:

There is no identity card or system of population registration, however Ireland does operate a 7-digit PPSN allowing the population to access welfare benefits and information from public service agencies.

Israel:

The population register is directly linked to the census - both launched in 1948 - it is used to improve census coverage and ensure correct addressing of questionnaire labels. An identification number is used to link records and enable the completion of any demographic data that might be missing from the returned questionnaires.

Italy:

Population registration is administered municipally. Each municipality is responsible for its own register. These vary in quality - some are not even computerised – the actual resident population and registered population can vary significantly. The census is generally used to update the registers.

Japan:

Population registration in Japan can be traced back as far as the 8th century. In 2002, the paper-based family register system was discontinued. Its replacement, Juki Net - a computerised registry - contains an eleven-digit number for each Japanese citizen along with their basic personal data. It links the municipalities with the central register and aims to make it easier and more convenient for citizens to receive government services such as and social security – currently it is used for 93 services. In 2003 Juki Net was expanded to incorporate the national ID system.

18 Latvia:

A register of the population was created in 1992. Residents are issued with a personal code number and data is collected via territorial offices. The register was founded on specific legislation.

Lithuania:

Created in 1992, the central population register is compiled of smaller local population registers for use by Government. The purpose of the register is to collect and compile information concerning the distribution and composition of the population. Residents whose data are processed in the population register are allocated a unique 11-digit personal number. Use of the register is governed by law.

Luxembourg:

Population registration and ID cards are administered at municipal level by the same government department.

Malta:

The Common Database System integrates public domain information that is commonly used amongst government departments, and which is already available in computerised systems – primarily name and address. Transactions are gathered from the public registry and the electoral office.

Netherlands:

The Bevolkingsregister is built up from a historical system of municipal records. A unique A-number is used as an internal identifier for the register while the social-fiscal number is used for government transactions. Although registration is not compulsory it is almost impossible to exist in the Netherlands without being recorded within the system.

Norway:

There is a long history of population registration stemming from Parish records. Today, register data is collected at municipal level via local tax offices which, in turn, feed into the National Population Register. The local registers also function as tax, birth and electoral registers. Both public bodies and individuals supply information. In order to obtain the 11-digit identification number, an individual must be registered.

Poland:

A constant register of population movements was introduced in the 18th century. Today, an 11-digit PESEL (Polish Human Identification Number) is used to distinguish people in the central register, which also covers civil registration.

Portugal:

Although there is an identity card in operation, it is clearly stated in the Portuguese constitution that “Citizens shall not be given an all-purpose national identity number.” A

19 Eurostatv report indicates the existence of a form of population registration in Portugal; no further detail is available.

Russia:

The Government of the Russian Federation granted Approval for a State Population Register in December 2004. The register is intended to ensure standard identification of persons in different registration systems via use of a unique identifier. The registers will be administered municipally while the national unified database is intended for use by law enforcement, medical and other official bodies.

Singapore:

The household register database was established in the mid-1990s to capture the basic personal and demographic information on all Singapore citizens and permanent residents. The unique identification number used in the register also appears on every birth certificate and identity card and is the key for linking and merging official databases in Singapore.

Slovakia:

According to Eurostatvi the Slovak Republic does have a form population register. No further detail available.

Slovenia:

The Nordic model of population registration was implemented during the 1980s. Data was built up from local registers. Both the tax number and personal identification number are recorded in the register; the 13-digit PIN is linked to eGovernment services.

South Africa:

The centralised Population Register supports HANIS – the computerised identification system that replaced paper ID books in the 1990s. It maintains a life profile of each individual by capturing their records and updating them on an on-going basis as they interact with government agencies. The population register holds biometric information as well as a unique identity number, used as a key to identify individuals on the numerous systems that are used within the public and private sectors.

Spain:

Population registration in Spain can be traced back to records kept by the Church in the 1700s. Today, it is obligatory for individuals to register with the municipal register, giving the address at which they habitually reside or spend most time in a given year. Amongst other things, the database also records the national identity document number. The National Statistical Institute – INE - produces the annual official population figures by co- ordinating the municipal data streams.

20 Sweden:

Population registration in Sweden has a long history and dates back to 1571 when Parish records were first kept. Systems have evolved to the point where population registration in Sweden is central to government administration. The 10-digit personal identity number is required to be quoted for access to any public service. It is almost impossible to function in Swedish society without having registered and ensured the recorded details are up-to-date. With the exception of change of address details, other government agencies supply the information held in the register.

Switzerland:

The Swiss population is currently registered a local level. KOREG - the Swiss Federal Statistical Office - is co-ordinating efforts to introduce legislation aimed at harmonising federal population registers and establishing a personal identification system.

Turkey:

All Turkish citizens are required, by law, to register with the neighbourhood Muhtar, or headman, immediately on arrival in a new neighbourhood. Plans are underway to modernise the Population Law to allow the computerisation of personal and administration information - individuals' identity numbers and religion will also be logged into the computer database.

United Arab Emirates:

The Ministry of Interior of the UAE is deploying a smart card-based ID programme to its citizens to improve quality of public service. The programme will also include a national centralised population register database.

United States of America:

There is no current or historical system of population registration in the USA. However, the US Census process is under review to reduce costs - a variety of new methods are under consideration including use of a population register.

United Kingdom:

There is currently no system of population registration or personal identification numbers in use in the United Kingdom. Legislation is in process to introduce identity cards

i Source: SKV 711B, edition 3. Issued by the Swedish Tax Agency in January 2000. SKV 717B, edition 3. Issued December 2004 ii Population and social conditions 3/2004/F/no 01 - Documentation of the 2000 Round of Population and Housing Censures in the EU, EFTA and Candidate Countries. Eurostat. ISBN 92-894-7074-7 iii Ibid. iv Ibid. v Ibid. vi Ibid.

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