Digital identity eligible for those leaving Macau from today

The digital identity generated on the government One Account app will be available for border clearance purposes in Macau from today, the government announced at a press conference yesterday morning.

Chao Wai Ieng, director of the Identification Services Bureau (DSI), disclosed that all Macau ID holders – about 740,000 of them – will be eligible to use the new functionality from today at six local border checkpoints. The checkpoints include the Border Gate, the Outer Harbour, the Inner Harbour, the Taipa Maritime Terminal, the airport and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge towards Hong Kong.

To use the new function, users must update the app on their devices.

Parents will also be able to bind their children’s digital identities to their app for use in various circumstances.

Macau permanent ID holders with a Chinese or Portuguese nationality must use their physical ID cards to enter Hong Kong, the DSI director stated.

Explaining why the digital identity cannot be used at the Qingmao Border checkpoint and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to Zhuhai, the DSI director reieterated the fact that juxtaposed border clearance facilities are installed at these checkpoints. Further negotiations with mainland authorities are needed to determine the feasibility of using digital identity at these checkpoints.

Adding to that, Ng Sou Peng, deputy commander of the Public Security Police Force (PSP), the juxtaposed facilities are shared between Guangdong and Macau, so their operations must comply with the laws of both jurisdictions.

Not to be confused with the digital identity card, the government has been emphasizing that the digital identity takes the form of a QR code on a designated section on the One Account app. To ensure its security, the DSI has introduced several anti-counterfeiting features on the page of the function.

These functions include watermarked texts, continually updated times, a dynamic ID number, date and time, dynamic stripes, as well as a regularly updated QR code. It is this code that will facilitate users’ border clearance in Macau.

Moreover, the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) announced in a statement yesterday that a new password will be introduced to access the digital identity function and the My Health function on the One Account app to raise the security level of the app.

When users pick the functions, a prompt will appear to ask them to set a password. They will have the options to set a password or skip the procedure. They will also be allowed to reset the password if it is forgotten.

During the first-phase release of the function, all public service offices will accept the QR code for application procedures. According to Chao, this will help eradicate the need for form filling and save time. Counter staff will use the QR code to access personal data stored on the DSI server to achieve a result similar to form filling.

Besides public services offices, certain private services will also accept the digital identity for verification purposes. These services include online bank account opening, password reset, loan application, cellphone service applications, internet service applications, among other services.

The China Travel Service will also start accepting the digital identity for bookings to renew the Home-Traveling ID.

From Aug. 1, the new function will be applicable to private medical arenas that accept medical vouchers. In September, its application will be expanded to private education spaces that operate government-subsidized continuing education programs, where check-in and outs with ID cards are mandatory.

The DSI director also disclosed that the new version of the Macau ID will be rolled out from Dec. 15.