The Latest: On May 15, the Minister of Public Security (MPS) signed Decision 2709/QĐ-BCA, announcing the abolition of several administrative procedures in the fields of ID card issuance and management, electronic identification, and electronic authentication.
This decision came after nearly two years of implementation and repeated debate over privacy rights and the scope of personal data collection.
The Details: Specifically, from May 15, in the field of ID card issuance and management, the MPS will stop collecting biometric data on DNA and voice samples for the ID database at the ministerial and provincial levels.
At the same time, procedures for integrating, updating, and adjusting information on ID cards have been abolished. Procedures related to people of Vietnamese origin whose nationality has not been determined will also no longer be carried out at the provincial level.
In the field of electronic identification and authentication, the decision also abolishes procedures for issuing level-1 and level-2 electronic identification accounts to foreigners. Furthermore, it halts the issuance of level-2 electronic identification accounts and electronic ID cards to Vietnamese citizens, as well as the issuance of electronic identification accounts to agencies and organizations.
The Background: The decision was issued based on the government’s Resolution 22/2026, which called for the abolition of 11 groups of administrative procedures related to ID card issuance and management, as well as electronic identification and authentication. These included the collection of DNA and voice data.
The addition of DNA and voice biometric information to the ID database has drawn controversy since it appeared in the draft of the Law on Identification in late August 2023. Many National Assembly deputies objected, arguing that such data constituted private information belonging to each individual.
The Law on Identification, passed on Nov. 27, 2023, first formally included DNA and voice data in legal documents. Under the law, the two types of information could only be collected when citizens voluntarily provided it or when it was needed to handle cases related to legal proceedings.
By late December 2025, the MPS was seeking public feedback on a draft national technical regulation on DNA biometrics for human identification. The draft proposed that other operational units within the MPS share DNA data when there was a “practical need.” This model resembles that of China, where DNA collection has been criticized as serving not only law enforcement purposes but also the surveillance of government critics.
Why It Matters: Since late 2025, the MPS has introduced a draft resolution on the development of digital citizens, seeking to turn VNeID into a “super app” with high-profile and controversial features such as digital citizen rankings, a national e-wallet, and identity verification for social media users
The concentration of vast amounts of citizen data on a single platform has raised concerns over state control of personal information, as well as the risk of hacking and data theft.
Huỳnh Lam wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on May 19, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights of the English translation.
