Countless business and administrative processes require verification that a person is who they say they are. The German ID card, the electronic residence permit and the EU citizen card have an electronic identification option with the online ID function. Thanks to the high level of security, this can be used quickly in all legal contexts without additional certification.
Highly Secure Identification Procedures with Online ID Function
With the integration of eID-based procedures, service providers offer their customers an end-to-end digital, fast and thus convenient identification option – without compromising on security.
The online ID card offers two basic applications:
- Identification of a natural person on the Internet at a high trust level
- Electronic reading of ID card data at the point of sale (POS)
Integrating eID Securely into your own services
Companies and public authorities have various options for integrating the online ID function into their own services:
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Using an identification service provider:
With this option, the service is provided by an identification service provider such as D-Trust. This provider handles the process of identifying customers as well as the necessary communication with the infrastructure of the online ID card. You yourself do not need an authorisation certificate to use the provider’s services.
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Becoming a service provider yourself:
You can also connect your services directly to the infrastructure of the online ID card and use an eID service or operate an eID server yourself. To do this, you must become a service provider yourself and have an authorisation certificate issued to you.
Comparison of D-Trust Identification Solutions
D-Trust offers both integration options of the online ID card as “Software as a Service” (SaaS):
AusweisIDent is an identification service for companies and public authorities jointly developed by D-Trust and Governikus that enables simplified integration and organisational onboarding. AusweisIDent is available in two versions: online and on-site.
AusweisIDent Online provides electronic proof of identity for third parties. In other words, AusweisIDent handles the process of identifying and authenticaing customers on the Internet for the service provider – fully online, without media disruptions, scalable and inexpensive. As a service provider, you do not need an authorisation certificate yourself.
AusweisIDent On-Site enables the electronic reading of data from the ID card at the point of sale (POS) in your branch office. Existing identification processes are thus accelerated, and errors in the manual transfer of data are avoided.
D-Trust eID-Service also enables you to identify your end customers on the Internet, read out ID data in the office and provide identification on the Internet as a service for third parties. The difference from AusweisIDent is that you need to become a service provider yourself and have an authorisation certificate for your application. The advantage of having your own authorisation certificate is that the end user will see your organisation’s name during the identification process. If you use an identification service provider, the name of the service provider will be displayed in the certificate.
D-Trust also operates the BerCA (Berechtigungs-Certificate Authority, “Authorisation Certificate Authority”), which issues technical authorisation certificates for service providers. Authorisation certificates specify whether the service provider may read out ID card data and identify which data. A service provider can only commission the connection to the BerCA and use an eID service from a provider or operate its own eID server if it has a valid notification from the Federal Office of Administration’s (Bundesverwaltungsamt, BVA) Authorisation Office for Authorisation Certificates (Berechtigungszertifikate, VfB).
