The world's most advanced smart ID card?
Starting on 1st November, the German government is to roll out a new national identity card that is billed as the most advanced of its kind. The contactless smartcard can be used as a travel document, enables transactions such as online banking, airline passenger check-in and tax declaration, and gives German citizens control over which service providers can access ID card data.
Around 60 million of the new ID cards, which contain fingerprint scans and a six-digit PIN digital signature, will be introduced for all citizens aged 16 and over over the next 10 years.
The system will allow citizens to, for instance, use a single card to provide data needed to verify enrollment status at a university and then provide only residency status to another government organisation, such as for voting registration.
