Bundesdruckerei Seeks to Accelerate the Convenient Use of Electronic ID Cards on the Web

Bundesdruckerei wishes to promote easy and uncomplicated use of electronic ID cards on the web. This requires devices capable of reading and transmitting data from electronic ID cards. The aim of Bundesdruckerei is for citizens to use their mobile phones as reading devices.

In order for this to work the necessary technical standards must be harmonized. Bundesdruckerei has now joined the international NFC Forum to help this committee adapt the Near Field Communication (NFC) standard on mobile phones so that they can be used for electronic ID card applications.

Modern electronic ID cards, such as those scheduled for introduction in Germany in November 2010, can also be used as a proof of identity on the internet, thus making online transactions even more secure. In addition to an internet connection users require a device capable of reading and transmitting the required data from an electronic ID card. Corresponding non-contact readers are to be available at low cost in the near future. However, an easy alternative would be to use one’s own mobile phone as a reading device. In order for this to work a mobile phone must be NFC-compatible. A mobile phone needs to be equipped with the appropriate technical standard to be able to read data from an electronic ID card, which would then make it possible to conduct secure online transactions with proof of identity (so-called ‘eID applications’) from any location.

“We believe that use of an NFC-compatible mobile phone as a reading device would be an uncomplicated way of bridging the current gap between electronic IDs and secure internet transactions”, said Ulrich Hamann, CEO of Bundesdruckerei. Mobile phones existed in nearly every household and were already widely accepted by users, Hamann added. That would make buying a special reading device unnecessary. “People will only use their electronic ID cards on the web if this is easy, safe and convenient.”

For this reason Bundesdruckerei is pressing for the NFC standard to be brought level with ISO standard 14443, which internationally is already being put to use for reading electronic IDs. Bundesdruckerei’s aim is for every NFC-compatible mobile phone to be capable of reading digital documents, so that citizens can use their electronic ID for a variety of secure eID applications in an easy and uncomplicated way. Already at this year’s CeBIT Bundesdruckerei staged an impressive showcase demonstrating the use of a mobile phone as a non-contact reader.