Directly-elected lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I, who chairs the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) 1st Standing Committee, which is currently reviewing the new ID bill, said yesterday that the government plans to advance the legislature’s final debate and vote on certain articles of the bill so that residents could use their e-ID certificate for certain public services as early as next month, while the final review and vote on the bill’s remaining articles will be completed at the end of the year.
Addressing a press briefing after yesterday’s closed-door meeting reviewing the government- initiated new ID bill, Lei said that the committee was close to completing the article-by-article review of the bill with government officials, adding that this was to speed up the launch of the government’s new service allowing residents to use their e-ID certificate to cross Macau’s border checkpoints, which was expected to be introduced by the end of the year.
The bill proposes to amend Macau’s current law regulating the government’s issuing of ID cards, which was enacted in 2002.
Under the current law, prosecutors and the Judiciary Police (PJ) have the right to access the civil status information of a resident for the purpose of litigation or investigation without the need to obtain the consent of the person concerned.
The bill proposes new means of data interchange, which Lei said would enhance administrative efficiency and make the system paperless, stressing that otherwise this was not different to the existing modus operandi.
Lei acknowledged that some committee members are concerned about the protection of personal data after the bill is passed.
Lei quoted government officials as saying that the scope of data access and processing by the relevant authorities will be approved beforehand and the identity of the person who has accessed the data will be shown on the system to ensure personal data protection.
Lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I (right), who chairs the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee, talks to reporters after yesterday’s closed-door meeting reviewing the government’s new ID bill, as the committee’s secretary, Becky Song Pek Kei, looks on. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
