ID Cards and Data Retention in Mexico

Under Mexican legislation, the scope of the use of identity cards is currently limited to electoral purposes. Article 144 of the Federal Electoral Code (Codigo Federal de Instituciones y Procedimientos Electorales) provides the obligation of every and each Mexican citizen to register before the Electoral Authorities in order to receive the so called "Voting Card" which contains among other information, a colour picture, fingerprint, address and an individual identification number. In theory this ID serves only to electoral purposes, however in practice it is the only valid ID card accepted in Mexico.

On the other hand, data retention regulation in Mexico is still being discussed in the congress along with the other data protection legislation.