eIDAS is flourishing
European cooperation enabling the mutual recognition of eID schemes across borders is moving at pace during the spring of 2019, and brings encouraging numbers:
Figure 1: Status of pre-notification, peer review and notification upon May 3rd, 2019. Source: CEF Digital
Between February and May 2019, three Member States have pre-notified new eID schemes and initiated the procedure of peer review in view of a future notification under the eIDAS regulation. The eIDAS regulation (EU) 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market foresees that if a Member State offers an online public service to citizens or businesses for which access is granted based on an electronic identification scheme, then they must also recognise the notified eIDs of other Member States. This objective is supported by the principle of mutual recognition of (notified) eID schemes across the EU.
Latvia has pre-notified its national eID scheme, including its eID karte, eParaksts karte, eParaksts karte+ and eParaksts on 4 February 2019;
- Slovakia has pre-notified its national eID scheme, including its Slovak Citizen eCard and Foreigner eCard on 18 April 2019;
Belgium has pre-notified its mobile eID scheme called itsme® on 18 April 2019, following a prior notification of its national eID card (cf. pre-notification article);
On top of these pre-notifications, an additional eID scheme has finalised the notification process and is joining the ever-growing list of recognised eID schemes under eIDAS:
- The United Kingdom successfully notified GOV.UK Verify on 2 May 2019, a nationally-issued eID scheme based on a federation of private identity providers which had been previously pre-notified in August 2018.
Latvian eID scheme
In May 2019, the Republic of Latvia pre-notified its national eID Scheme, there are four types of electronic identification means (EIM).
The first one - the 'eID karte' - is a classic chip-enabled national identity card.
Figure 2: Latvian eID Karte
The other three means “eParaksts karte”, “eParaksts karte+” and "eParaksts", are personal identification documents that can be used both for confirming a person's identity, in order to access services online, and for signing digital documents. In addition, personal attributes are hosted on the smartcard or on the secure key management application of the user's mobile device. Information is protected by 2 factors (PIN code and possession of a corresponding device - smartcard or mobile device).
Figure 3: eParaksts Karte
Slovak's Electronic Identity Card
In April 2019, Slovakia pre-notified its national eID cards (Slovak eID) and its electronic residence permits. Both means are based on smarcard with a chip with stong cryptographic protocols. The issuance of eID cards in this format has begun in December 2013. Residence permits followed four months later, from April 2014 onward. Electronic functionality includes the secure identification of natural persons based on a two-factor authentication.
Figure 4: Slovak eID card and resident permit
Belgium’s itsme®
In April 2019, Belgium pre-notified its second eID scheme, itsme®, after notifying its national eID card in December 2018.
Figure 5: Itsme® app
Itsme® is the product of Belgian Mobile ID, a consortium of four leading banks (Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING, KBC) and three mobile network operators (Orange Belgium, Proximus, Telenet) in Belgium. This highly-secure mobile phone app lets the user log in safely to confirm its personal ID and share its data during digital interactions with service providers. The app provides a unique digital identity to every resident who is older than 18 years in Belgium and in possession of a mobile phone and a Belgian Citizen eCard or Foreigner eCard.
Itsme® is a user-friendly alternative to card readers, passwords, and multiple PIN codes. The app is available for mobile phones based on Android or iOS.
Once the app is installed, the user can apply its 5-digit itsme® code or integrated biometrics (fingerprint, faceID) to:
- log in and register to online public services;
- log in and confirm payment in online banking;
- digitally sign official documents;
Only the log-in service to access online services is included in the scope of this pre-notification.
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) eID Building Block primarily supports the Member States in the roll-out of the eIDAS Network (the technical infrastructure which connects national eID schemes). CEF eID is a set of services (including software, documentation, training and support) provided by the European Commission and endorsed by the Member States, which helps public administrations and private Service Providers to extend the use of their online services to citizens from other European countries.