Director of the National Identity Management Centers: Arab Citizenship and Civil Status Departments Keep Pace with Technological Developments

The Director of the National Identity Management Centers in the State of Kuwait, Colonel Rights Specialist Nasser Al-Khudair, emphasized the importance of Arab nationality and civil status administrations keeping pace with technological advancements to ensure the protection of privacy and data. This statement was made by Colonel Al-Khudair in an interview with KUNA during his participation in the Ninth Arab Conference of Directors of Nationality and Civil Status Administrations, held at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab Ministers of Interior Council in Tunisia.

He stressed the importance of ensuring the confidentiality of personal data and protecting privacy, particularly given the evolution of digital hacking methods, and affirmed the necessity for Arab nationality and civil status administrations to develop and secure documents to keep pace with new developments and advancements related to the use of artificial intelligence technologies.

Colonel Al-Khudair outlined Kuwait’s experience in the digital transformation of nationality and civil ID management, emphasizing the importance of enhancing joint Arab cooperation among Arab nationality and civil status administrations to confront emerging challenges, particularly waves of illegal immigration and document forgery. He considered that the exchange of information among nationality agencies in Arab countries contributes to combating digital hacking and crimes threatening the security of Arab states, expressing the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior’s commitment to strengthening joint Arab efforts to serve security in our Arab region.

The Arab Conference of Directors of Nationality and Civil Status Administrations began its work in Tunisia to discuss several files, including a proposal regarding the issuance of a unified Arab identity. At the opening of the conference, the Secretary-General of the Arab Ministers of Interior Council, Mohamed Kouman, stated that discussions would examine Iraq’s proposal for a unified Arab identity, exploring the possibility of issuing a single Arab ID card or, at the very least, adopting a single ID card model across all Arab countries.

He stressed the necessity of developing Arab nationality and civil status administrations and enhancing possible measures and procedures to protect the data processed by these administrations in Arab countries, as well as the documents they issue, to prevent forgery and exploitation for criminal activities. He reaffirmed the importance of ensuring the confidentiality of personal data and protecting privacy, especially with the advancement of digital hacking methods. He also pointed out the need to develop nationality and civil status administrations and secure documents in Arab countries to keep pace with new developments and advancements related to the use of artificial intelligence technologies.