Germany to let citizens store ID cards on smartphone | Hacker News Reader

Germany to let citizens store ID cards on smartphone

660citynews.com

28 pointsfinphil16 comments

We have a digital ID here in Australia, which is really just our government issued ID within a MyGov smartphone application. However, I don't believe it currently integrates with online services outside of government services.

But it does mean that I haven't carried my wallet on me for almost 2 years with the digital ID and payments/purchases all driven on my mobile phone.

Might be a stretch to say its integration, but you can scan a QR code and sign into a RSL. Edit, I too haven't carried a wallet in years, how good is it.

I don't understand the positivity here. It is utterly foolish to store anything that "proves" your identity on an easily hackable device.

Good luck proving abuse. It is already difficult with similarly "secure" banking transactions, the banks tend to win.

Or a wallet that is easily lost or stolen?

Is the phone ID a greater risk?

As long as that citizen has a Samsung Galaxy S20, which is currently the only supported phone. [0]

[0] https://www.translatetheweb.com/?ref=TVert&from=&to=en&a=htt...

A major convenience in Sweden is using Mobile Bank ID for everything, which authenticates you using your smartphone. File your taxes? Start a company? Check your pension? Log in to your bank/transfer money? More and more private companies are integrating with it to a point where we don't really need accounts or passwords for anything involving your real identity. I don't see why it couldn't be used to buy alcohol or prove that you have a driver's license too, it's just a matter of time. It started as a PC thing in 2003, but turned mobile in 2011. Now penetration is 94% of smartphone users, which is pretty much everybody.

Scary? Yes. Convenient? Very.

Sweden is quite absurd in that regard. You can rent a car by simply scanning your driver's license, but buying an energy drink or light beer by scanning your ID? No that'd be irresponsible, an actual person has to do the verification.

I have resisted getting a Mobile Bank ID for years now. A Bank ID just seems too powerful to keep as a soft cert on my cheap cell phone full of apps doing god knows what. Having it on a smartcard I can store safely just feels more appropriate.

But Mobile Bank ID is becoming so common it will pretty much be required to have one. Some services integrating with Bank ID only bother to implement the Mobile part for example (and it's not much extra effort to support all kinds). A credit card suddenly changed from doing a SMS code verification to doing it via Bank ID (which I of course discovered in a situation where I did not have my smartcard accessible). Sometimes a small business or event will only accept mobile payment and the Swish payment system is of course built on Mobile Bank ID.

I expect I will be getting a Mobile Bank ID soon.

We have a similar system in the Netherlands named DigiD. I prefer this system over the Swedish one as it's run by a government agency (rather than any bank) and it's only accessible to governmental or semi-governmental (e.g. pension, healthcare) agencies.

Denmark also just got a “drivers license”-app that is valid everywhere in the country. You only need to bring your physical card when you travel. Our healthcare social security (national id) card is on the way as an app as well. Oddly enough the drivers license is that much more important as it’s one of the only widely accepted photo-ID (except for passports) that we got.

Interestingly, we have had these apps [0][1] for a few years now where you can store your IDs like driving licence, Adhaar, PAN card, voter's ID etc. Police and officials are instructed to treat these in the same way they would treat the original paper version of the document.

It's very convenient, I don't have to carry around anything except my phone.

[0] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nic.mpariv...

[1] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digilocker...

Is this only for citizens or also for blue card holders ? I suppose both since they pay equal amount of taxes.

I look forward to the day I can do this all with my watch and go all day without anything in my pockets.

In Poland government issued mObywatel app stores ID cards, driving licence, student ID card, car ownership certificate, digital pharmacy prescriptions and COVID vaccination proofs. Also driving penalty points.

More to come..

[] https://www.gov.pl/web/mobywatel

[] https://apps.apple.com/pl/app/mobywatel/id1339613469?l=pl

[] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.nask.mobywa...

Good, Germany is way behind when it comes to this stuff.

TLDR Transitioning to an app and biometrics from smart cards and smart card readers.

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