Piauí is the first Brazilian state to issue the National Identity Card (CIN) to 25% of its population, reaching the highest percentage among all states. More than 830,000 of the 3.3 million residents of Piauí now hold the new document, which follows a national standard and uses the CPF as a unique identifier. The Public Security Secretariat of Piauí (SSP) has also launched the Neonatal Identification project, aiming to identify and issue the CIN for newborns directly at the maternity ward, using new equipment capable of capturing babies’ fingerprints.
“With the CIN, our children will be identified and protected, making the National Identity Card our greatest instrument of citizenship,” highlights Célio Ribeiro, president of InterID, emphasizing the importance of this document in ensuring security from birth.
The new unified identity document structures administrative records, enhances security checks, and reduces fraud issues.
“The CIN is an instrument of citizenship, as it enables secure and reliable digital identification for each person and establishes a new relationship between citizens and the State. Improving Brazilian identification will also allow us to enhance the quality of public services provided, focusing on the citizen,” explains the Secretary of Digital Government of the MGI, Rogério Mascarenhas.
The identification process conducted in maternity wards prevents cases of abduction and baby swaps, as well as enabling CIN issuance for both mother and baby, ensuring rights and citizenship from birth. According to Marcelo Mascarenhas, Director of the Félix Pacheco Digital Identification Institute (IIDFP) — the agency responsible for issuing the National Identity Card in Piauí, “this technology ensures the security and traceability of data for both baby and mother.” Leianne, mother of little Abner Gael, only three days old, was the first child in Piauí to access the project. “Knowing that we can count on this security gives a sense of relief, knowing that he is mine and I am his,” she says.
Across the country, around 15 million CINs have been issued so far, and all 27 states and federal units now issue the CIN. One in every four people in Piauí already holds the new document. From the start, the state of Piauí has aligned with the National Digital Government Strategy (ENGD), a set of strategic recommendations to coordinate and guide digital government initiatives among all federal entities. According to Director Marcelo Mascarenhas, the success of CIN issuance has made the state a national reference in digital citizenship. “The new national identity serves as a gateway to digital citizenship, so one of the state government’s priorities is to expand access to the CIN for the population,” he emphasizes.
The CIN was initially issued in Piauí municipalities with over 30,000 residents, but all 224 municipalities in the state will eventually have Identification Institute offices. “Another strategy is the organization of social outreach efforts, with active searches in communities, neighborhoods, suburbs, and more remote areas, where our representatives travel to ensure identity card issuance,” adds the IIDFP director.
The ease of document issuance surprised Iolanda dos Santos, 27. A resident of the town of Queimada Nova, 522 km from the capital, Teresina, she managed to obtain her CIN without needing to travel to another city.
“It was super easy to get my ID card. I didn’t need to bring a document copy or photo, which really helped. And best of all, I didn’t need to travel to Teresina, which is over 500 km away. I did everything in my own town, and within less than 10 days, I had the ID in my hands. It was much simpler than I expected,” Iolanda recounts.
In Piauí, citizens can obtain more information on the Public Security Secretariat’s website.
How to Issue
The document can be scheduled for issuance at the Identification Institutes of the States and the Federal District. For this, individuals need to bring their birth/marriage certificates for CIN issuance. The first copy is free of charge. It is also possible to download the CIN in digital format and save it in the document wallet of the GOV.BR app. The digital document has the same validity as the physical one.
