Compendium of Good Practices in Identity Management in the Osce
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
compendium of good practices in identity management in the osce region COMPENDIUM OF GOOD PRACTICES IN IDENTITY MANAGEMENT IN THE OSCE REGION Published by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Ul. Miodowa 10, 00-251 Warsaw, Poland http://www.osce.org/odihr © OSCE/ODIHR 2017 All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may be freely used and copied for educational and other non-commercial purposes, provided that any such reproduction is accompanied by an acknowledgement of the OSCE/ODIHR as the source. ISBN 978-92-9234-954-7 Designed by Homework Printed in Poland by Agencja KARO TAblE of contents FOREWORD . 5 1 . INTRODUCTION . 7 1 .1 . Goals of the Compendium . .8 1 .2 . How to use the Compendium . 9 1 .3 . Structure and content . 10 1 .4 . Methodology, data gathering and analysis . 11 2 . DIMENSIONS AND COMPONENTS OF IDENTITY MANAGEMENT . 13 2 .1 . The human dimension of identity management . 13 2 .2 . The security dimension of identity management . 14 2 .3 . Identity management and its components . 14 3 . CIVIL REGISTRATION . 18 3 .1 . Birth registration . 19 3 .1 .1 . The registration process . .20 3 .2 . Civil registration coverage in the OSCE region . 23 3 .3 . The institutional arrangement of a civil register . 24 3 .4 . Administrative arrangements for keeping and retaining civil registration records . 27 3 .4 .1 . Local databases operating as part of a single network . .28 3 .4 .2 . Central civil registration database linked with local databases . 29 3 .4 .3 . The population register . 30 3 5. Unique identification number . .32 3 .6 . Cross-border aspects of civil registration . 35 3 .6 .1 . Legalization of civil status documents . 37 3 .6 .2 . Translation of official records . .39 3 .6 .3 . Transliteration and diacritical marks . 39 4 tablE of contents 4 . CIVIL IDENTIFICATION . .40 4 .1 . Civil identification coverage in the OSCE region . .42 4 .2 . Authority in charge of issuing identification documents . 44 4 .3 . Application and verification process . 47 4 .4 . Documentary evidence requirements . 48 4 5. General method of the verification process . .53 4 .6 . Identity verification for first-time applicants . .54 4 .6 .1 . First-time application for national identity cards or travel documents for minors . 54 4 .6 .2 . First-time application for national identity cards or travel documents for adults . .55 4 .6 .3 . Social footprint as a means of identity verification . 57 4 .6 .4 . Verification of the link between an identity and a natural person for first-time applicants . 58 4 .6 5. Collection of biometric identifiers . .58 4 7. Identity authentication as part of the document renewal process . 62 4 .8 . Applications by mail or online . 64 4 9. Verification in other databases . .65 4 .10 .Administrative arrangements for retaining information on issued identity and travel documents . 65 4 .11 .Civil identification for resident non-citizens . 68 5 . RISK ANALYSIS . 73 5 .1 . Inherent weaknesses of civil registration systems . 73 5 .1 .1 . Lack of a link between identity information and a natural person . 74 5 .1 .2 . Security of civil registration certificates . 75 5 .2 . Civil identification fraud . .76 5 .2 .1 . Document issuance and control . .78 Annex 1 . OSCE Commitments and International Standards . .80 Annex 2 . Guidance Materials from the United Nations Statistics Division . .83 Annex 3 . Guidance Materials from the International Civil Aviation Organization . .85 Annex 4 . OSCE Identity Management Questionnaire . .88 Annex 5 . Glossary . .94 Foreword The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) promotes the understanding that secure identification is not only about document security, and that processes for the legal establishment and registration of the identity of every person, as well as the management of these data, is an integral part of secure identification. Secure and efficient systems for civil registration and identification, as well as residency -reg istration, as components of identity management infrastructure indirectly, but decisively, de- termine to what extent people enjoy certain basic rights. Depending on the provisions in place, these systems can help to ensure that citizens can exercise a wide range of rights, such as those to property, privacy, freedom of movement and free choice of place of residence, as well as ac- cess to social services, including education, health care and social security. Travel documents, in particular, provide for freedom of movement and cross-border movement, allowing the development of human contacts and relationships across the OSCE region and internationally. As the most important instrument for the facilitation of international travel, travel documents designed in line with relevant international standards to allow for fast and secure travellers’ identification and facilitate their processing at the borders. However, the fact that the design of the document follows international standards is not enough to ensure it is secure. The document needs to be protected against counterfeiting and forgery and, crucially, needs to be issued on the basis of a verifiable identity. Despite the fact that border controls are tightening and highly secure passports with biometric chips are now in wide use, the processes to obtain these passports vary from country to coun- try and are often not as secure as we would like to think. The emerging trend in travel docu- ment fraud is that authentic documents are obtained on the basis of false identities, thereaf- ter making them extremely difficult to detect at border crossings or within a state’s territory. Therefore, robust identity management infrastructure that supports issuance of identification documents is essential as the OSCE region faces the challenges of preventing the movement of terrorists, combating organized crime, and managing irregular migration. For this reason, OSCE participating States have committed themselves on multiple occasions to establish ef- fective controls on the issuance of national identity cards and travel documents, as well as to implement measures for ensuring the security of these and preventing their counterfeiting, forgery and fraudulent use. 6 compendium of good practices in identity management in the osce region The Compendium combines the perspectives of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)’s work on identity management and freedom of movement, and the OSCE Transnational Threats Department’s work on travel document security. It is the result of consultations initiated in 2013, and the subsequent process has included a series of expert meet- ings and a detailed questionnaire distributed to all OSCE participating States in August 2016. This Compendium builds upon existing ODIHR expertise in civil registration, identification, and population registration and reform, as well as in providing technical support to participat- ing States in this area. This publication can be seen as an expanded new edition of the ODIHR Guidelines on Population Registration, published in 2009, which will continue to guide partici- pating States in improving their practices. Breaking new ground in its holistic presentation of identity management, this Compendium bridges the different dimensions of security to provide insights and guidance on a complex area. We hope it will be used by states to compare and contrast their identity management sys- tems with others, to identify possible security gaps or weak links in their own systems, and to remedy these gaps using some of the good practices highlighted. We would like to express our gratitude to the many international identity management ex- perts – over thirty – who contributed to the development of this Compendium, including ex- perts from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Implementation and Capacity Building Working Group (ICBWG), the International Organization for Migration, the UN Refugee Agency and the European Union. Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir Rasa Ostrauskaite Director of the OSCE Office for Co-ordinator of Activities to Address Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Transnational Threats, OSCE Secretariat 1 . INTRODUCTION As the world’s largest regional security organization, with 57 participating States spanning five continents from Vancouver to Vladivostok, the OSCE is well-positioned to support glob- al efforts to improve identity management processes. OSCE participating States have adopted a range of commitments aimed at facilitating freer and wider travel in the OSCE region, and improvements in the security of travel documents has a direct and positive effect on visa fa- cilitation processes. In line with these dual mandates, the OSCE Executive Structures active- ly co-operate to support participating States in both the security of borders, and the facilita- tion of cross-border mobility. In November 2013, in order to support the ICAO Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP), the OSCE organized an Expert Roundtable on Addressing the Link between Travel Document Security and Population Registration/Civil Registration Documents and Processes. It is worth repeating one of the primary recommendations that emerged from this roundtable: “Given the diversity of civil registry systems in operation and national discrepancies in how well they are linked to travel document issuance, the OSCE should develop a compendium of best practices on effectively linking the most common civil registration systems in the OSCE region with travel document issuance