Hold your ID card on the smartphone, enter your PIN, and you’re done – this way of using the eID function already exists. It is available for the German National Identity Card, the eID card for EU citizens and the electronic residence permit. Soon it will be even easier. Citizens will then only need their smartphone and the PIN for their electronic proof of identity on the internet. The Smart-eID Act lays the foundation for this.

Proof of identity on the internet will be even easier in the future

The smart eID enables citizens to store their electronic proof of identity directly in their smartphones. The ID card then only needs to be held up to the smartphone once, when the data from the chip of the ID document is transferred. The digital identification without ID card is completed in just a few seconds. This makes identification on the internet more practical and takes only about half as long as electronic proof of identity with an ID card.

Security first: Smart-eID gradually possible with more and more smartphone models

The technical prerequisites for the smart eID are currently being created. The protection of identity data is elementary. This is ensured by the security requirements of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). They focus on the hardware of smartphones and rely on a security chip (Secure Element) which is being built in more and more smartphones.

Initially, devices from the Samsung Galaxy S series will be supported. As a project partner, Samsung is already using Secure Elements with the security requirements defined by the BSI in the first smartphones, thus paving the way for the use of smart eID in the near future. The first citizens will be able to use the smart eID in December 2021. At the same time, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community is working on increasing the number of supported devices, as the smart eID should be usable on most commercially available smartphones in the first half of 2022.

Further simplifications for the eID function as mid-October

In order to use the eID function for identification on the internet with or without an ID card, it must be activated. This means that citizens must have set their self-chosen, six-digit PIN. For this, they need their PIN letter. The PIN can be set when picking up the ID document at the local identity card authority or later at the local identity card authority or in an app, such as the AusweisApp2. Subsequent PIN setting at the local identity card authority has been free of charge since 1 January 2021.

But what if the eID function is not yet activated or the PIN letter has been lost? From mid-October, citizens will be able to apply easily online for a new PIN. For security reasons, the required data will be sent by letter within a few days.