Smart cards for expats in Kuwait's public sector

Manama: Foreigners working in Kuwait's public service will be given smart cards when they replace their expired identity cards, the general director of the Public Authority for Civil Information (PAIC) has said.

The decision is part of the strategy by the authority to replace all identity cards with smart cards, Musaad Al Assoossi said. Kuwait has launched the replacement process by asking its citizens to change their ID cards with the smart cards that have embedded microchips storing information that can be verified by a special card reader.

The PAIC said that all Kuwaiti nationals needed to have their cards before the end of May ahead of the deadline set by the government to end dealing with the old ID card starting June 1, local Arabic daily Al Anba reported. Last week, the PAIC issued a statement to assure citizens that personal information stored in the electronic chip of the smart card cannot be revealed to non-competent agencies.

The statement denied allegations that smart card private information could be disclosed and leaked when the card is used at petrol stations.