"Kids-ID" card
Specific example of an innovative application

Let us protect our children

Early 2007, the pilot scheme for the issue of ‘Kids-ID’, the new Belgian electronic identity document for children under 12 was successful from the start, especially as Belgium has seen some tragedies in terms of pedophilia and child abductions.
 

Like the e-ID, the Belgian national identity card, Kids-ID contains both visible and invisible information securely stored. Kids-ID is the same size as a credit card and currently combines three functions:

• It is first and foremost an official electronic identity and travel document that is compliant with the ICAO standard valid in most European countries and in some countries outside Europe, and contains all the identity data and the child’s photo stored on the electronic chip. The parents’ name is also featured on the card.
   
• The card’s main purpose however, is to protect children if they are in danger. Indeed, the card features an emergency number to call if children are lost or in danger.
   
• When the card is issued, the parents must register on-line – or by telephone – in order to provide a list of seven telephone numbers of trustworthy people to whom the child may be entrusted. This list is strictly reserved for the parents who may modify it on-line as they wish.
   

When someone finds a child in danger, they can call the emergency number. This person is then prompted to enter the 11 digits of the child’s national register number and is then automatically connected to the first number in the list (usually one of the parents or another trustworthy person). If nobody answers, the caller is automatically redirected to the second number in the list, and so on. If none of the seven numbers answers, the call is redirected to Child Focus, a Belgian foundation for child assistance, open 24/7, which can be helped by the national police force if required.

Using the integrated PIN code, children may also use the kids-ID to surf and chat safely on websites that require ID.
 

Highly secure and not easily copied, these cards offer endless possibilities. In the near future, they may be used as library cards, sports membership cards or social security cards.