e-ID Cards: How do they work?

Thanks to the chip, e-ID currently fulfils three functions: identification, authentication, and signature.

The first function of any ID card is to identify the holder.

The e-ID card contains exactly the same information as the traditional identity card but now the information is contained on the chip. e-ID thus enables two different levels of identification:

Visual face-to-face identification: thanks to the information visible on the card,
Automatic identification: using data capture of the information stored on the chip. This identification can be done remotely over the Internet.

This identification (either visual or automatic) does not, however, guarantee that the holder is the person they claim to be. To verify this, authentication is required.

The chip on the e-ID card is now used for the card’s second function: cardholder authentication.

This is a new function that did not exist with the former physical identity card. The electronic chip contains a digital authentication certificate that ‘electronically’ proves the identity of the cardholder.

To identify himself, the citizen places the card in a reader and keys in a 4-digit PIN – just like one does for a banking card. Authentication offers an even higher level of security than identification because it requires the cardholder to be in possession of both card and PIN.

Authentication is an optional function that has the advantage of protecting the identity document against fraudulent use. In Belgium, when citizens are issued with their e-ID card, they must declare to the issuing authority there and then, whether they wish to activate the authentication option or not.

The third function is also new to this new generation of identity document. A second certificate, located on the chip in the e-ID card can add an authentic electronic signature to electronic documents.

The electronic signature has the same legal value as its paper equivalent. After having introduced the e-ID card into the reader, the citizen keys in the PIN which then generates a signature that is unique to the document.

The electronic signature is an optional function. In Belgium, when citizens are issued with their e-ID card, they must declare to the issuing authority there and then, whether they wish to activate the signature option or not. In our example, where the card is issued to a minor, the signature option is automatically deactivated.