Online ID card

Since 2010 the German identity card has carried a chip that also works online. Since 2017 the online ID function has always been switched on for newly issued cards. Official information is on the Personalausweisportal.

Besides the identity card, the electronic residence permit and the eID card for EU citizens work on the same principle.

#How identification works

1. The customer starts identification, for example from a link in the chat.
2. She holds her card to an NFC-capable smartphone running the official AusweisApp.
3. She sees who is requesting which data and confirms with her six-digit PIN.
4. The service receives only the released data, such as name, address and date of birth.

#Who may use it

Anyone who wants to read data from the online ID needs an authorisation certificate. It specifies which data a service may read and is issued by a government body. The legal basis is the Identity Card Act.

Many businesses do not connect the online ID themselves but use an eID service that handles the technical check and passes on the result.

That keeps people in control: a service only sees what it is permitted to see and what the person releases.

#Benefits in customer contact

Typical occasions are opening an account, signing a contract, changing an address or applying for a public service: wherever an ID copy is requested today.

#The online ID in Univerx

The Univerx Channel is designed for identification with the German online ID and eIDAS identities, right inside the ongoing conversation. The result is recorded in the case.

Read on: The online ID card in customer contact: what works today and, in the Trust Center, eIDAS & online ID.