Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat- The Saudi Interior Ministry intends to start archiving the fingerprints of all Saudis through the civil records departments in the various administrative regions, Asharq Al-Awsat has learned.

A source in the ministry's civil records department told "Asharq al-Awsat" that work is underway on a plan to archive Saudi citizens' fingerprints through the civil records department's branches when the recently-adopted new identity card is issued or renewed.

The plan aims to archive and store all fingerprints as a reference when there is a need to identify persons, missing people, or for any emergency circumstances required by the authorities. Another beneficial feature is that they will be included in the smart chips for use in the electronic identification of citizens, which will facilitate many of the measures at airports, border points, and so on.

The Saudi authorities announced at the beginning of this year that they were about to implement the fingerprint system at all Saudi Arabia's land and air outlets for foreigners arriving or leaving the country. They added that this measure would be implemented to curtail any security violations that might happen and eliminate many of the security violations.