Abstract: The present invention relates to a capacitive sensing device (10) for sensing topological variations in the structure of an object such as e.g. a finger. The device comprises a sensing surface for receiving the object adjacent thereto and a number of sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y) arranged in at least two dimensions (x,y). The sensing device further includes controlling means (2,3) for providing control signals to the sensor elements (11,1, . . . , 1x,y) and for at least a number of the sensor elements at least two functionalities are available. The sensor elements can be brought to take on one of said at least two different functionalities, and the actual functionality of a sensor element is determined by said control signal. The invention also relates to a data carrier comprising such a capacitive sensing device, and to a method for use of such a device.