The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Thursday that the mandatory inclusion of fingerprints on identity cards is in contravention of the fundamental rights of respect for private life and the protection of personal data.

The ECJ noted that the requirement to get fingerprints recorded is intrinsic for issuing identity cards as it will assist the authorities in combating the problem of issuing bogus identity cards, thereby protecting data privacy and preventing terrorism. Moreover, the court noted that if the validity of the provision is nullified with immediate effect, then it would have serious negative implications on EU citizens with respect to their safety, freedom, and security.

However, despite declaring the inclusion of fingerprints legal, the court declared the provision from Germany, which required the fingerprints to be invalid, as it was adopted on an incorrect legal basis. The court decided to allow the provision to be in place until December 31, 2026, thus giving time to the EU to correct the issue.

The case was referred to the court by a German court that dealt with a petition filed by a citizen of Germany contesting the validity of the EU regulation that made it mandatory for citizens to give their fingerprint in order to get an ID card.