In the near future, a digital passport will be introduced in Russia

The Ministry of Digital Development has published a draft law on a digital passport, it is planned that the digital version will be equal in legal force to the paper one. This initiative has been repeatedly put forward by various executive authorities, the introduction of this technology has been actively discussed since 2021. The ability to use an electronic passport will be carried out through an application that is synchronized with “Public Services”. Citizens will be able to independently choose whether they want to create a digital version of the passport for further use or use only the paper version.

The bill also provides for the possibility of using not only a passport in electronic form, but also a driver’s license and other identity documents. The authors of the draft law argue that this innovation will be very relevant, since given the current trend towards widespread digitalization, there is practically no need to use paper documents, most often you can do with a digital version of the passport.

Despite all the positive aspects of the project, there are certain points in it that need to be worked out. In the coming months, the government should establish a specific list of cases in which a digital passport can be used instead of a paper one, and it is also necessary to consider the issue of personal data processing. Many experts are also afraid of possible leaks of personal data and fraudulent actions with new electronic passports, such as obtaining unauthorized access to the account of a person who did not even know about it or making legally significant actions (real estate transactions), entailing serious consequences for the injured party.

In the explanatory note, the Ministry notes that a digital copy will be useful when buying goods that require confirmation of reaching the age of 18.

This is not the first attempt to implement digital passports in life. Earlier, the Ministry presented a similar project in March 2021. At that time, electronic passports were planned to be issued from December 2021 in Moscow, the Moscow region and Tatarstan, and from 2023 throughout the country. It was reported that the electronic document will be presented in two forms – in the form of a smart card and an application with a QR code. According to the latest information, the draft decree on digital passports is scheduled to be completed by May 1.