Several local councils are calling for a face scanning procedure to be included when issuing passports and driving licences to prevent identity fraud.

Utrechtse Heuvelrug and Almere are among the councils that want to make a face scan a compulsory part of the procedure to get new identity papers. The scan would check if the person on the photo on the old papers is identical to the person making the request.

Face scanners are already in use at airports but it is not clear if their use would go against European privacy legislation which protects personal data.

A spokesman for Utrechtse Heuvelrug local council told broadcaster NOS that “choices still had to be made” before the council could go ahead with the plans. It is also unclear if the council will be storing biometric material.

The Dutch association for information management NVVB said it had had reports of several of its local council members wanting to use a face scanner but that a “legal base” for its use is still lacking.

According to the home affairs ministry, local councils have their own responsibility in the matter. To find out if they would be infringing privacy rules they should “carry out a risk analysis,” a ministry spokesman told the broadcaster.