A digital identity certificate is currently being worked on in Finland, which could replace online banking credentials in many services – if only it is implemented.
An alternative to online banking IDs in identification matters is being worked on at a rapid pace, as a digital identity certificate is coming into use in addition to the mobile certificate. However, it is still too early to assess how widely it will be used in the end.
In practice, it is an application that can be downloaded to a smartphone, with which a person can prove their age at the store’s checkout, their identity at the post office’s parcel point, or identify themselves electronically when logging into online services. The application is scheduled to be launched one year from now, in September 2023.
The government’s presentation on the legislation enabling the use was given to the parliament on Thursday. Both the digital identity card and the application used to check it are in the test phase.
– Several companies and public organizations, as well as citizens, are participating in the testing, says the manager Riitta Partala from the Digital and Population Information Agency.
Voluntary
The service has been developed as a project of the Ministry of Finance. The development work has been done by the Digital and Population Information Agency together with the police.
In practice, a digital identity card can be used by a person who has a passport or identity card issued by the police. The digital identity card does not replace the analog ID cards mentioned above, and no one is forced to use the digital identity card.
– The legislation is based on the fact that the digital identity card is voluntary and no one is obliged to use it – neither individuals nor service providers, says Partala.
This means that no company is forced to accept a digital identity card, for example in electronic identification. So you can’t give up your online banking credentials or mobile certificate even next fall.
According to Partala, it remains to be seen how widely the digital identity card will eventually be used.
– Yes, online banking IDs will certainly continue to be necessary, but at least for electronic services in the public sector this will be available alongside other identification methods, he says.
Partala also emphasizes that the introduction of a digital ID does not prevent the use of bank IDs.
The story continues after the picture.
A digital identity card works on a smartphone and can be used to prove one’s identity or age, for example. DVV
Information security is trusted
Identification with online banking credentials took a hard hit when S-bank’s months-long disruption occurred this week. As a result of the disturbance, an outside person was able to log into the accounts of some customers.
Data security expert Petteri Järvinen told Iltalehti on Wednesday that despite the damage to reputation, the case does not yet mean that bank credentials are an unreliable login tool.
– Bank IDs have a 25-year history and there are extremely few problems, so I wouldn’t say that this makes them unreliable yet, but it does cause distortion, he says.
Järvinen estimates that the security of online banking IDs has been “virtually unbreakable” until now.
Riitta Partala is confident about the data security of the digital identity card. According to Partala, information security testing and threat modeling are performed “really extensively” in the development and test phases of the applications.
– And information security is absolutely a continuous job, when the digital environment is under constant change. There is no way to stay in place for a moment, he says.
The same information as, for example, an identity card can be seen in the digital identity card as needed. DVV