Providing tangible services to citizens in Belgium
When citizens are parents and children
Gemalto is very proud to bring its contribution to kids-ID, the new Belgian
smart card-based ID program for the under-12s. Just like the hugely successful
eID card, the Belgian national ID card of which over five million have to date
been issued by system integrator Zetes to whom Gemalto supplied the Java-based
operating system, ID and digital signature applications, kids-ID contains both
visible as well as secure information stored on the microprocessor, thus
offering multiple functionality.
The size of a credit card, the new kids-ID cards have 3 main functions today.
- Firstly, they serve as an electronic national ID document
for Belgian children, containing all necessary ID information as well as a
photo of the child, both visible on the card and securely stored on the
microprocessor.
The names of the child’s parents also figure on the card. kids-ID can be used as an official travel document in most European countries as well as for traveling to some countries outside Europe, replacing the current Belgian ID certificate. The child must be traveling with a parent in possession of a valid ID card.
- Secondly, the cards serve to protect the child if they run into
danger. Printed on the card body, a special hotline number is visible and
designed to notify the next of kin or a friend if the child is lost, or is the
victim of an accident or any other unfortunate event.
When the card is issued, the parent or guardian goes on the web or directly dial the hotline number and supplies a list of up to seven contact telephone numbers of adults who will take responsibility for the child.
www.alloparents.be or www.halloouders.be
These could include parents’ cell phone numbers, office lines, home etc. The emergency notification system hotline number is called, the caller is required to enter the child’s 11-digit National Registry number. They are then immediately put through to the first person on the list – normally the child’s parent or guardian. If this person is not available, the caller is immediately connected to the second number on the list, and so on until somebody is available. If, in the unlikely event of nobody on the list being available, the call is then immediately transferred to the Belgian Child Focus hotline, open 24 hours-a-day.
The kids-ID account can be accessed on-line or by telephone. The parent inputs their five-digit access code from the card mailing document, followed by the child’s National Registry number, and can then register their chosen contact numbers, in order of priority.
- Thirdly, thanks to an integrated PIN, the kids-ID card can also be used
on the Internet for safer access to online chat and to use online
services that require ID, This authentication certificate can be issued at
the age of six. The cards, which are highly-secure and virtually impossible
to fake, are available to all Belgian children aged 12 and under, and open
up a whole range of future possibilities. Other potential uses could include
accessing library books, sport club membership or healthcare access.
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