New regulations for passport photos Photographers in the region fear for their existence

Rhein-Sieg-Kreis/Bonn · Some local authorities in the region already use self-service terminals for passport photos in their public offices. Photographers in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis and in Bonn fear massive financial losses.

 Passport photos are an important business pillar for the Rheinbach photographer Alfred Eich (l); here he is taking some for his customer Manfred Böttcher.

Passport photos are an important business pillar for the Rheinbach photographer Alfred Eich (l); here he is taking some for his customer Manfred Böttcher.

Foto: Axel Vogel

The lying around of passport photos from the last decades at home in a box could soon be a thing of the past. The Federal Ministry of the Interior has drafted legislation according to which passport photos can in future only be taken directly at city government offices and stored there digitally. This is intended to make identity cards forgery-proof.

As a result of this, photographer Guido Bach fears for his existence. “Passport photos account for almost 40 per cent of our turnover,” says the 53-year-old, who has a photo studio in Siegburg and Königswinter. In Siegburg, he moved especially to be near the town hall. “I don't know if I can afford this in the future,” he says. He is critical of the changeover to the new machines: “The devices I looked at are difficult to operate, especially for older people.” Taking biometric photos of children, especially babies, is not possible.

Photographers in the region are angry

Mathias Elsner from Bornheim is also annoyed: “It's a mortal blow, I don't know who came up with this madness.” Passport photos account for 95 per cent of his business. “Photography is a dying profession. I can only advise young people against it,” he says. They have expertise, not a machine. Alfred Eich from Rheinbach would also be affected: “The situation threatens the existence of at least 50 per cent of photography shops and photographers. Suddenly there will be more empty shops in town centres.” He also wonders about passport photos for people with a disability, the elderly or the sick who cannot leave the house. Eich has called on his CDU member of parliament Norbert Röttgen, who has promised him to present the matter in Berlin.

Photographer Elke Grävenstein from Bad Honnef doesn’t know how she will pay her rent without passport photos. A customer wants to know: "Who will have access to the photos in the city government offices? How will they be made secure?” Many offices are already overloaded, and should a machine break down, difficulties will ensue.

The city of Sankt Augustin also recognises that the new policy could cause economic problems for photographers. However, the administration can also understand the reason for the new regulation. “The head of the Citizens’ Service Department thinks the idea is a good one,” says city spokeswoman Eva Stocksiefen. “We do have doubts about passport photos from time to time.” For example, whether they even show the person requesting the document. “Passport photos have also been rejected.” Retouching has also already been noticed. Therefore, it was agreed with some photographers that they would not retouch passport photos. In April, the city is to receive a self-service terminal where passport photos are created and digitally transferred into the system.

The first German city in which a photo booth could be used to create digital biometric passport photos was Siegburg, says city spokesman Jan Gerull. In 2006, the pilot project was presented at the Cebit computer trade fair in Hanover – since then, the town has been using it, with updated technology. According to Gerull, the system has been well received. Photographer photos can be scanned by employees in the citizens’ service centre.

The self-service terminal In Troisdorf has been in operation since January 2017. “It has been well-received by colleagues and citizens alike,” says press spokesman Peter Sonnet. Only older people sometimes need a little help, but the terminal is a great relief for the employees. The town is therefore relaxed about a possible changeover. This is also the case in Hennef, which has also had a self-service terminal since 2017. According to town spokeswoman Mira Steffan, this is constantly being reconfigured with a view to data security. “You just have to wait and see what exactly is required when it is in place.”

To date, Königswinter has not used cameras or self-service terminals in its two citizens' offices. “For some people this new regulation might be a relief, as they do not have to go to a photographer”, says city spokesman Carsten Herrmann. However, if applicants were to submit up-to-date photos that met the requirements, it would be difficult to explain why they would have to take and pay for new photos to be made on site. Should the regulation come into force, the spatial, personnel and organisational conditions in the citizens' offices would still have to be created. “The employee would inspect the photo of the person to see whether it is up-to-date”, says Herrmann.

According to press spokeswoman Christine Pfalz, the photo machine in the citizens' office in Bad Honnef has been well-accepted. The photos would be taken in the waiting room, away from the office, but still within sight of the employee, and would be transmitted exclusively digitally to the PC in the passport register. However, anyone wishing to use the device must be at least 1.50 metres tall. “This means unfortunately, that small children or wheelchair users cannot have pictures taken.”

According to Mayor Wolfgang Henseler, there is a photo machine in Bornheim Town Hall where passport photos can be taken and printed out or sent directly to the city hall in digital form. The town also accepts passport photos from photo studios, which are then checked to see whether the picture matches the applicant. Further checks to see whether photos have been manipulated, for example by morphing, is not possible. Regardless of this, the town is planning to install a digital photo device if necessary. Henseler does not want to give an opinion about the idea of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. However, such a regulation would be time-consuming.

In the opinion of Meckenheim's first assistant Holger Jung, the only additional time required would be a few minutes, once it had been set up. Currently, the town sees no reason to deviate from the current practice regarding passport photos. According to Jung, no cases of fraud are known. The town does not want to set up a photo machine in the town hall, because it does not want to interfere with the free economy, but also does not want to ignore the plans of the Ministry of the Interior.

Rheinbach's press spokesman Norbert Sauren points out that in his town, the concerns and the obligation to identify prisoners must be considered. “This might also result in further organisational hurdles,” he said.

In Bonn, the city administration has been using two self-service counters since 2017. Employees can access and process the data material from their workstations. The extent to which the draft legislation would create new requirements for the city administration in terms of staffing and technology could not be assessed on Thursday. According to the press office, it would have to wait and see what the regulations would ultimately look like in concrete terms.

(Original text; Nadine Quadt, Hannah Schmitt, Christoph Meurer, Heike Hamann and Rüdiger Franz, translation John Chandler)

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