[2] It has a personal, unique and exclusive identification number or número de cédula –made up of eight digits–, that is assigned to the holder the first time he/she obtains the document and that keeps throughout his/her life as a general identifier.

[3] Uruguay's identity cards can be used as travel documents to enter the Mercosur members (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay) and associated countries (Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador; except Guyana, Suriname and Panama).

Before 2015, it was known as the "Cédula de identidad" It was a laminated card measuring approximately 9 cm in width by 5 cm in height, predominantly in light green color, displaying in its center the flag of the Thirty-Three Orientals with the inscription "Libertad o muerte" On the reverse side, it featured the owner's photo, the number assigned by the D.N.I.C.

(which included a self-generated or verification digit), full name along with surnames, and the signature of the respective individual (or a note indicating the inability to sign).

Since it also reads personal identification information, it can perform any additional checks deemed necessary, such as verification against travel clearance lists for any applicable legal reasons.

To prevent unauthorized data reading, for example, by a hidden reader on the street, the chip has Basic Access Control (BAC) protection.

As indicated in the ICAO specification, this secret can be easily derived from information printed on the document, including the Machine-Readable Zone (MRZ), which can be optically read by a machine.

In accordance with ISO 7816 specification, section 4, the electronic ID card is used within a system to which it is connected through the exchange of Application Protocol Data Unit (APDU) commands and responses.

The advantage of these commands is their flexibility, as they allow direct access to each function of the ID card at a much lower level than the three applications mentioned earlier.

Holders of the Uruguayan Identification Document can enter all member and associate countries of the Mercado Común del Sur (Mercosur) without a passport.