Pre-registration passport photo and signature (DAR)

RDW

If your driving licence expires soon or needs to be extended by a category, and you live in one of the participating municipalities, you can apply for this new driving licence digitally at the RDW.

Last change on 11th of July 2025, at 9:24 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Other algorithms
• Impact assessment: DPIA
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Traffic

Begin date

2018-10

Contact information

[e-mail]

Link to publication website

https://www.rdw.nl/over-rdw/dienstverlening/algoritmeregister/voorregistratie-pasfoto-en-handtekening-dar

Responsible use

Goal and impact

Because it is not always easy to see with the human eye whether a passport photo meets the requirements of the law, we have developed an algorithm whereby this can be accurately checked. The legislation describes that we must use this algorithm and in what way.

Considerations

This algorithm does not decide whether you will get a driving licence or not. This algorithm only assesses whether you can apply for your new driving licence digitally. If it is not possible for you to apply for your driving licence digitally, you can apply for your licence at a counter in your municipality.

Human intervention

Behind the scenes of this algorithm, employees check (periodically and randomly or in response to reports) whether the algorithm is still working properly.

Risk management

The algorithm does not process any information that could lead to discrimination. This trained algorithm works in the same way for all applicants for a new driving licence. Several measures have been taken to combat discrimination. For instance, the algorithm is trained with different data sets and the error rate is monitored.

To ensure continued compliance with information security and privacy requirements, we are taking the following measures:

• The authorised photographer sends the passport photo to the RDW via a secure environment.
• The quality and accuracy of the data is checked again and again.
• It is checked both periodically and randomly whether the trained algorithm still exhibits the behaviour it was designed for. If discrepancies are found, we correct them.

Impact assessment

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)

Operations

Data

The algorithm uses biometric data.

To determine whether the person in the passport photos is a sufficient match, it looks at biometric data. Biometric data are unique physical or behavioural characteristics, such as a fingerprint, facial scan or facial image.

The algorithm assigns a scoring percentage to the extent to which the new photo matches the one the RDW has in the driving licence register. This percentage will have to be equal to or higher than the percentage set.

When you take a photo, the existing driving licence number is entered and the photo and signature are sent digitally to the RDW. In doing so, RDW links the passport photo to the correct person and compares it with the photo of this person already registered in the driving licence register.

Technical design

To apply for a new driving licence, you must provide a passport photograph. You can have this passport photo taken at one of our recognised photographers. The photographer sends the taken passport photo (and signature) to the RDW via a secure connection. The algorithm then assesses the passport photo on 2 parts:

1. The algorithm looks at whether the submitted passport photo meets the requirements set out in the law (the requirements are set out in the Dutch passport photo matrix, with requirements coming from International ICAO standards). This means looking at, for example, the position of the passport photo, the background colour, contrast and whether the camera flash has left no white marks on the skin.
2. The algorithm checks whether the person in the new passport photo matches the passport photo recorded in our register. The passport photo in this register has been supplied by your municipality/RDW and is identical to the one on your current driving licence. If the match is large enough, the application will go through. In that case, you can continue the application digitally.

If the match is lower than the set value, you will receive a rejection e-mail and you cannot submit a digital application. In that case, you can apply for your driving licence through the regular way at the municipality.

It may happen that the algorithm indicates that the passport photos do not match sufficiently. The reasons for this may vary. It is possible that the photo the RDW has in the driving licence register does not sufficiently meet the legal requirements or that someone's face has changed significantly. The latter is relatively common among young people, for example.

If it turns out that your photo is not suitable, this does not mean that you cannot apply for a driving licence. It just means that you cannot make the application online. You can then apply through the regular route. For this, you can contact the municipality. You can use the printed photo you received from the photographer for this purpose.

If your photo is suitable, you can apply for your new driving licence digitally. For this, you will need to identify yourself via DigiD.