Which Latin American countries still issue non‑biometric national identity cards as of 2026?
Executive summary
There is no definitive list in the provided reporting that names which Latin American countries still issue strictly biometric-national-ids-in-latin-america">non‑biometric national identity cards as of 2026; the material instead documents a near‑regionwide push toward biometric or digital IDs and highlights Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru as prominent adopters or reformers of identity systems [1] [2] [3]. Because the sources are aggregated over time and focus on trends rather than a country‑by‑country 2026 snapshot, the question cannot be answered with a conclusive roster from the supplied reporting alone [4] [5].
1. What the sources actually say about the region, not the headline
Multiple sources describe Latin America as moving decisively toward biometric and digital identity models rather than documenting which states still maintain purely non‑biometric cards: an industry analysis describes Argentina, Brazil and Colombia as integrating biometrics and digital services into national systems [1], advocacy and technical pieces flag a regional trend of biometric NID rollouts and outreach to rural and indigenous populations [6] [2], and mapping projects like the World Privacy Forum draw on World Bank data to chart presence of national and electronic IDs without supplying a clean “non‑biometric” list per country in 2026 [5]. That pattern—broad reporting of modernization rather than a definitive status table—matters because the original question demands a binary classification that the supplied sources do not directly provide [4].
2. Evidence of biometric adoption: concrete examples and implications
Reporting specifics point to active biometric adoption: Argentina’s RENAPER and its SID initiative are described as integrating biometrics into digital identity workflows and enabling real‑time remote validation [1], while Brazil is singled out for state‑level digital ID pilots that use facial recognition and QR codes integrated with government data processors [1]. Advocacy and industry pieces frame biometric NIDs as the dominant trend for identity verification across the region, stressing the use of fingerprints, facial captures and centralized databases to reduce fraud and expand access to services [2] [6]. These documented adoptions imply that many countries once issuing simple photo IDs have been upgrading systems, but the sources do not translate that implication into a verified list of holdouts [1] [2].
3. Why the supplied sources fall short of naming “non‑biometric” holdouts
The reporting corpus is heavy on trends, technical issues, and program highlights rather than on a forensic inventory of every Latin American national identity card specification as of 2026: Wikipedia’s list of national identity policies is a general reference [4], the World Privacy Forum provides an interactive map drawing on World Bank data [5], and several industry summaries summarize global adoption patterns [7] [8]. None of these documents, as supplied, furnishes an authoritative, up‑to‑date country‑by‑country statement that would let a journalist declare definitively which countries still issue exclusively non‑biometric national identity cards in 2026 [4] [5].
4. Alternative viewpoints, agendas and where to look next
Vendor and industry sources emphasize the benefits of biometrics for fraud prevention and commercial identity verification [7] [8], which can bias coverage toward portraying adoption as universal; civil liberties groups like the EFF emphasize risks of mandatory national ID regimes and database linkages—reminding readers that “adoption” is not only technical but political [3]. For an authoritative country‑level answer one must consult national civil registry or interior ministry sources, the World Bank/World Privacy Forum raw datasets, or updated country profiles such as the Wikipedia policy list and specialized 2026 surveys of ID features—documents not present in the supplied reporting [5] [4].
5. Bottom line for the question asked
Based on the supplied reporting: it cannot be stated categorically which Latin American countries still issue non‑biometric national ID cards as of 2026. The evidence supplied shows a strong regional shift toward biometric and digital IDs and names Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru as part of that trajectory [1] [2] [3], but does not provide a verified exclusionary list of non‑biometric issuers. To answer the question definitively requires consulting national registry publications or an updated dataset from the World Bank/World Privacy Forum or an authoritative 2026 survey specific to ID biometric status [5] [4].