Pan-European Electronic Identity Being Developed in Wide Cooperation

HELSINKI, 22 December, 2004 - Representatives from about 20 European countries met in Rome, Italy on 9-10 November 2004 to discuss the situation of electronic identity and electronic services and the development projects in participating countries, as well as to exchange information about ongoing projects. This was the 6th conference of the International Porvoo Group, which was established in conjunction with the eEurope 2002 project, and which consists of governmental representatives from European countries. The organisers of the e-ID conference were the University of Rome «Tor Vergata», the Ministry of the Interior of Italy, and the Finnish Population Register Centre.

Senator Antonio d’Ali’, Undersecretary of State, greeted the delegates on behalf of the Italian Ministry of the Interior. He assessed the current situation in Italy. He also recalled that an important step in the process of European integration is the capability of providing people in Europe with services that can be accessed seamlessly by every European citizen in every European country. To this aim and beyond the required work to be done for standardisation, the contribution from the scientific community is urgent and necessary and he strongly encouraged the Porvoo community to continue in their activities. According to the Senator, the final goal of the Italian government for the electronic ID card is to implement it while taking citizen rights into consideration and to express this in the naming of the card, i.e., to protect and guarantee citizens in an electronic democracy and to strengthen the feeling of unity within the European Union.

The conference discussed electronic signatures; the issue of cross-certification between different countries, i.e., the acceptance of national certificates in another country; the legal and standardisation aspects of electronic identity; the developments and recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on electronic identity, etc.

Recognising the important developments underway in the high interest topic area «Biometrics in Passports and ID-cards», the Porvoo Group expressed its immediate need for an international standard template for fingerprint minutiae for electronic ID cards.

Co-operation between public administration and the private sector and communication that is directed at people is deemed important. So is the availability of end-user packages (card readers/software). Co-operation is needed between the PC manufacturers and software houses; the Porvoo Group will issue a letter of request to the major PC manufacturers recommending that a standard card reader integrated in the motherboard is installed by default in at least a selected range of all their new PCs. In a similar manner, interoperability between different certification authorities must be ensured. The Porvoo Group supports the provision for interoperability aspects to be included in international standards in the smart card, certification infrastructure, and biometric domains.

Electronic Identity Requires Standardisation

The European parties working on electronic identity and authentication include the WS eAuthentication working group of the CEN/ISSS (Information Society Standardisation System). The Porvoo Group reconfirms the Common Requirements as currently issued by the working group to be considered in developing a pan-european electronic identity. The objective for the CEN 224 WG 15 European Citizen Card working group is to develop a technical standard for a European citizen card.

The seminar introduced some preliminary results of the study performed at the Porvoo Group, which has determined European Cross-Border Authentication Legislative Environment and the need for having EU to regulate the European electronic identity. The study recommends building on the directive governing electronic signatures, since the legal aspects of cross-border eAuthentication functionality may already be adequately covered in the Directive. The study will be finalised in December 2004.

A review of the national situation in certain countries, based on the seminar presentations:

The European countries that have made the most progress in implementing the electronic identity system are Finland, Estonia, Norway, Belgium, Slovenia, and Italy. Spain, France and Austria also have projects that are well on their way and the UK has commenced development work.

In Italy, the development work for electronic identity has progressed rapidly and extensively. The University of Rome «Tor Vergata» has strongly participated in the development work. The major challenges for eGovernment include transforming the traditional processes into electronic forms that can be safely accessed through the Internet, as well as starting the process of creating new electronic services for citizens. Combining organisational structures with technical components is seen as a challenge. The ultimate objective of the Italian government in introducing electronic identity is to safeguard the rights of citizens; the privacy of citizens’ data is especially safeguarded in this respect. The significance of co-operation amongst all the actors is emphasised. Italy considers the aspects that are related to the interoperability of electronic identity and electronic signatures between different countries to be important.

In Italy, the municipalities are responsible for granting ID cards and the distribution of electronic ID cards is a considerable process as there is a total of 8,102 municipalities in the country. A total of 40 million paper cards will be replaced with cards with chips. Electronic ID cards are comparable to passports as travel documents.

The second phase of electronic identity is currently under way. Electronic ID cards are distributed to citizens who have turned 15 in 56 municipalities. 400, 000 electronic ID cards have already been issued to citizens. Access infrastructure for personal data and demographic services is already available and working in more than 7,500 municipalities. The infrastructure for personal data validation services is available and working through the Internet. During the third phase, which will be implemented during 2005-2009, electronic ID cards will be introduced in all the municipalities of Italy.

In Belgium, starting in September, electronic ID cards have been introduced to the whole country. The intention is to replace all the current paper cards with electronic ones in 5 years - carrying an ID card is compulsory in Belgium. To date, some 85,000 cards have been issued. The card costs EUR 10, and it is valid for 5 years. The card also acts as a European travel document. A smart card can be used with tax-on-Web, Mypersonalfile, e-banking etc. A Public Key Infrastructure, i.e., PKI-supported signing mechanism is present for e-transaction services.

In Austria, the principle has been to introduce several smart cards that work as citizen cards. There is a discussion about national electronic ID card currently ongoing; Austrians are not obliged to possess any ID document. The objective is that all citizens will have (more than) one electronic identity (health insurance card) by the end of 2005. By now, approximately 80-100 electronic identity-based services are available. The possibility of using a so-called multi-application smart card has been taken into account in, e.g., combining electronic identity with banking functions. Electronic signature is in use.

Finland uses electronic ID cards that have a validity period of 5 years. The card contains a citizen certificate issued by the Population Register Centre. To date, the number of valid electronic ID cards stands at more than 51,000. The card costs EUR 40. From the beginning of June, the holder of the card has been able to have his or her social security details imprinted on the card. The card can be used as a travel document in the Nordic countries and the EU Member States, Switzerland and San Marino. Electronic signature is already in use.

There are approximately 50 services that use the card. The citizen certificate can also be used on different platforms and is channel-independent. From October, it has been available for the Visa Electron cards issued by the OP Bank Group. The first mobile citizen certificate started to be used in November.

Nationwide, the mobile phone service based on the use of the mobile citizen certificate that allows the electronic identification of users will become available for consumers during 2005. For cross-certification purposes, Finland has entered into a co-operation agreement with Estonia in 2003.

In Norway, electronic identity has been developed in projects for Norsk Tipping (Lottery) and Bank-ID. Issuing smart cards based on a PKI solution started in 2001, and so far approximately 300,000 cards have been issued. The electronic ID card costs EUR 10, and it is valid for 3 years. Currently, approximately 10 services are available: lottery, social security, NetBank, postal services, student loan agreement. A multi-application smart card is in use: the card can have an electronic wallet connected to it. Electronic signature is already in use.

Together with other countries, the United Kingdom has pushed for smart cards as driver’s licenses in the EU. In addition, plans for a national ID card are progressing in the United Kingdom; the UK electronic ID card is in the process of legal specification. The government recently published renewed plans, which are supported by 80% of the population. In addition to passports, the UK will start distributing a plain ID card that will have a chip inserted in it. The roll-out for the first ID card is scheduled for 2008.

In France, a government programme called «Carte de Vie Quotidienne», a smart card for everyday life, was introduced by the Prime Minister in October 2002. The city of Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris participated in the eEpoch pilot project. In February 2004, a new eGovernment plan, ADELE, was published in France. An official request for tenders for electronic ID cards will be commenced in December 2004. The goal is to start issuing the cards in November 2006. The electronic ID cards will not be obligatory in France but remain optional as they are today. Electronic signature is already in use in France for some applications, but it is not yet implemented on a large scale nor for electronic identity goals. It is still restricted to specific fields (e.g. professional mail, using commercial certificates).

The Porvoo Group Has Established Itself

As its name suggests, the international Porvoo Group was established in the City of Porvoo, Finland, in the spring of 2002 during the international conference held in conjunction with the Public Identity Project of the Smart Card Charter operating under the eEurope programme. The Porvoo Group consists of governmental representatives from European countries; representatives of the private sector have also attended its meetings. Representatives from the European Commission have also participated in seminars. The Porvoo Group is an active European-level electronic identity «interest group», widely recognised as the correct party for public dialogue. The Group seeks to promote the popularity of electronic identity and electronic ID cards in Europe, the introduction of interoperable certificates and technical specifications, and the interoperability of administrative services. The Group has regularly met every 6 months. The previous meeting was held in Tallinn, Estonia in May 2004, and the next meeting will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland in May 2005. The number of member countries has steadily increased; at present, about 30 countries have representatives in the Group.

For more information, please contact: The Director of Certificate Authority Services Mr. Tapio Aaltonen Finnish Population Register Centre tel. +358 9 2291 6625

Senior Adviser, Ms. Maija Turunen Finnish Population Register Centre/ Certificate Authority Services tel. +358 50 408 8597

Material from the seminar and additional information can be found on the Internet.

More information

http://www.fineid.fi/

http://www.electronic-identity.org/

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