Turkish media has criticised plans by the Interior Ministry to import digital chip identity cards rather than produce them domestically as planned.Commenters in The Millet newspaper claimed that the manufacturers of chip cards could access the data stored on them such as fingerprints, personal information and commercial activity.Security insiders also told the newspaper that involving Dutch and German firms in such sensitive technology could create privacy risks for Turkish citizens.Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said last October that a nationwide biometric ID card scheme will be launched in December.Davutoglu said cards will include data about their owners, and allow Turkish citizens to carry out transactions such as paying for various services, withdrawing cash at ATMs and accessing online services through e-signatures.The card will also have law enforcement applications, with Turkish citizens who can present a new biometric identity card to a police officer able to testify at a scene, rather than at a police station, reported Turkish media.The prime minister said the cards would also streamline notoriously long bureaucratic procedures surrounding births and changes in names and address.In November 2012, 222,000 ID cards were distributed in Bolu as part of a pilot scheme. At the time, the government stressed that the cards were made of polycarbonates and carried microchips in line with international standards.

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