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Comment by kalleboo | Hacker News Reader

This is actually pretty neat. In Sweden our "BankID" digital signature system is really popular (using digital signature files or 2FA to do your taxes, log into your bank or apply for credit cards), and it's always kinda odd when I notice the kind of backwards half-assed solutions used in other countries. Having it all work intra-nationally would be really cool!

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> Having it all work intra-nationally would be really cool!

You mean _internationally_, right, or did I miss something?

It wouldn't necessarily mean _internationally_ because countries outside of the EU wouldn't be required to work with the system.

It would only work intra-nationally (scoped to the member states of the EU (as an oversimplification)).

Just so that we are on same page:

- "international" = "between nations"

- "intranational" = "within a nation"

Right?

Correct. Which is strange, because both "intern" and "intra" mean as much as "internal". I never understood why "externational" isn't a word.

it's not intern, but inter, which does not mean internal at all but "between"

You're right. Serves me right for posting at 3 AM...

Had to do some googling, but looks like the Swedish BankID isn't the same thing as the Norwegian BankID. Unfortunately the Norwegian BankID never rolled out digital signature files to customers, so we can only use hardware token and a mobile solution to authenticate/sign.

Personally, I'm surprised anyone trusts a mobile phone or its software for anything important. Malware is so prevalent on Android, half the androids are still vulnerable to StageFright vulnerabilities (and will never be fixed, just phased out), and I know that there are exploits for iPhones as well (because I'm familiar with companies who sell those exploits to governments - but I don't know the specifics of any exploit).

AFAIK, Norway and Israel are the only two countries that require an electronic signature be done by a certified secure hardware element. And I think that's the right way.

I will have to agree that the Swedish system works really well. Most of the population is using 2FA for banking and dealing with the government. In contrast, my US bank made me log in with a password to pay my bills.

I hope we get to use your BankID system here in Germany then because our system using the chip in our ID is a nightmare. I was an early adopter but never got it to work properly.

Hmmmm, I'm as pro-Europe as the rest, but the idea of trusting other European countries with my BankID digital signature is basically a joke.

Doesn't it amount to them knowing your public key?

Yes.

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