Emirates Identity Authority has issued a timely reminder that national identity cards are important documents that need to be safeguarded by all. The warning comes on the heels of a growing trend by private companies in various capacities to ask for copies of national identity cards.
The cards were introduced as a means of protecting the identity and ensuring the security of everyone who lives in the UAE. It has taken a long process for the cards to be adopted and successfully implemented. Abuse of the cards will only result in that process being negated and the cards’ authority being impugned. Banks, financial institutions, government offices and services are permitted to make use of the details on your identity card. It should not, for example, be demanded by security guards who issue passes for a building as they keep the card as a sort of temporary security deposit.
Now that the cards are available to everyone, that does not imply a right by everyone to ask to see it or to take a copy. Every time you allow an unauthorised copy to be taken, you are weakening its integrity and compromising your security.
