Make a pilgrimage to the photographer, get photographed with a digital camera, then print the photos and take them to the authorities to have them rescanned for a new ID card – this rather rustic approach should now be over by 2024. The digital passport photo upload is coming. But citizens still have to go to the photographer or photo shop.
Passport photos can now also be submitted digitally to the authorities. The new “eBild system”, which according to the Ministry of the Interior is available to all professional photographers and photo dealers, allows identity photos to be sent electronically. At the same time, the classic paper passport photo variant will not be abolished.
Uploading only possible directly from the photographer
This is a “further step towards effective and modern governance,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner emphasized in a press release. State Secretary Florian Tursky (both ÖVP), responsible for digitalization, was also satisfied with the “simple, secure and data protection-compliant option to send the passport photo directly to the relevant authority”. “This eliminates the need to carry the photographer’s printed photo to the office,” says Tursky. But not to the photographer.
Heinz Mitteregger, Federal Guild Master of Professional Photographers at the Chamber of Commerce, explains in the State Secretary’s statement: “The Federal Professional Photography Guild is pleased that it is now more possible to digitally transmit passport photos professionally taken by photographers to the authorities. The eBild system is a further step towards digital official channels and is managed on servers in Austria, in accordance with the highest data protection measures.”
Users receive image identification codes from the photographer
After submitting the passport photo to the eBild system, photographers receive an image identification code. This is given to the customer or, if desired, sent directly to the mobile phone via SMS. The code gives the authorities access to the passport photo in the eBild system. The quality-reducing and time-consuming step of cutting out and scanning the photo into the authority is no longer necessary.
It said that no personal data was stored in the eBild system. To ensure complete data protection, any metadata is even deleted when stored. All communications with the eBild system take place over highly encrypted connections on servers operated exclusively in Austria, Tursky and Karner pointed out.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
