Five questions to understand the future digital identity application

It will soon be possible for French citizens to use a public digital identification service to authenticate themselves and carry out dematerialized procedures. A decree of April 26 signed by the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior now authorizes the State to create a digital identity guarantee service (SGIN), optional and free. Behind the technical term, there is the implementation, at the end of a program launched in 2018, of a smartphone application allowing  » to prove [l’]online identity and control the dissemination [des] identity data”.

What will this application be used for?

The idea behind the state’s approach is that « all French people can authenticate online with the same security as the paper identity card in the real world ». With « France digital identity », French Internet users will be able to provide single-use proof of identity, thus avoiding users having to scan their identity documents before sending them, explains the government on the Internet, and also gives the possibility, by this new tool, to prove its majority or to make powers of attorney.

The application is also intended to provide access to the sites of public services protected by the France Connect system such as the tax site or that of the National Agency for Secure Documents. Other features are under study.

How will it work?

Since August 2021, the new electronic identity cards (CNIe), in credit card format, contain a chip. On these are stored two types of data, named by the State:

• « travel compartment », containing civil status and biometric data;
• and “digital identity compartment”containing the elements printed on the identity card itself: surname, first name, date and place of birth, nationality, sex, card number, date of issue.

The application will only import the second compartment, and this data will only be readable if the user consents to it and unlocks it using the personal code associated with the new identity card.

To generate the proof of identity, the user will also have to badge his smart identity card on his smartphone equipped with NFC technology, capable of reading the chip. This process will make it possible to verify that the citizen is indeed in possession of his card and that it has not been stolen.

What are the conditions for using it?

It will be necessary, like 4.5 million French people to date, to hold a new digital identity card. This is the case if you have had your ticket made or redone since August 2021. But you must also have a smartphone compatible with NFC technology, as for contactless payment by telephone or dematerialized transport tickets.

When will it be functional?

The application will be available, in a test version initially, in May, on Android phones. Rollout to Apple phones is expected by the end of the year, when the system is expected to be expanded “passports and residence permits”according to the details of the “France digital identity” site in its frequently asked questions.

What safeguards are provided on personal data?

This new tool comes to bury Alicem, a previous digital identification project that had caused controversy because it was based on facial recognition. The government, which has abandoned this option, has nevertheless taken care to communicate about the protection of personal data, in order to reassure users: “The civil status data stored in encrypted form in the chip [de la carte d’identité] will only be read after the user expresses his consent to the completion of the process., guarantees the site. Likewise, « identity data [peuvent] not be processed for commercial or advertising purposes”.

The National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL), which had expressed reservations about facial recognition identification devices, was in favor of the new digital identity system adopted, which “will allow high-level identification, an ability to demonstrate only certain attributes and create credentials to replace the reliance on photocopies of IDs”.