On 22 August 2017, the Federal Republic of Germany notified the EU Commission of the online ID function of the identity card and residence permit at the highest possible level of trust in accordance with the eIDAS Regulation. The notification was published in the Official Journal of the EU Commission on 26 September 2017.

As part of the notification procedure, the German eID system was subjected to a peer review. Based on the results of the peer review, the EU member states unanimously agreed that the eID function meets all the requirements of the eIDAS Regulation for the trust level "high".

Statement of the Cooperation Network

By 29.09.2018, all EU member states were obliged to open their administrative procedures that require electronic identification at a "substantial" or "high" level of trust to the German online ID function. Companies can also recognise electronic proof of identity on a voluntary basis.

The Act to promote electronic proof of identity as well as the expansion of mobile usage options (using suitable NFC-capable end devices) already supports the spread of the online ID function. Building on this, the notification of the online ID function is another important step in promoting the online ID function.

Notification process

The process of notification of the electronic proof of identity comprises the following steps

• Pre-notification: submission of notification documents to the European Commission and other member states.
• Peer Review: Optional peer review of the eID system (maximum three months)
• Notification (six months after pre-notification at the earliest)
• Publication of notification by the European Commission (two months after notification at the latest)
• Obligation of recognition by the other member states (no later than twelve months after publication, but no earlier than 29.09.2018)

The BSI actively accompanies the entire notification process and prepares the necessary technical documentation for the notification.

Technical documents of the notification

• German eID - Overview of the German eID system - Version 1.6
  The whitepaper provides an overview of the German eID system and its integration into the eIDAS network.
• LoA mapping 1-7 (embedded)
  This document demonstrates that the online ID function fulfils all requirements of the trust level 'high' of the corresponding Implementing Regulation.
• German eID - Fulfilment of the interoperability requirements according to (EU) 2015/1501 - Version 1.4
  This document demonstrates that the online ID function meets the interoperability requirements of the relevant Implementing Regulation.
• German eID - Supporting Documentation - Version 1.4
  An overview of relevant legislation, regulation, and technical documents related to the online ID function

Versions submitted for pre-notification

Submitted Versions

• German eID - Overview of the German eID system - Version 1.6
• German eID - LOA-Mapping - Version 1.6
• German eID - Fulfilment of the interoperability requirements according to (EU) 2015/1501
• German eID - Supporting Documentation

Technical integration

Due to the architecture of the German eID system without central system components, integration into the eIDAS Interoperability Framework takes place via the middleware-based integration model in line with eIDAS Technical Specifications.

For this purpose, Germany provides the other EU member states and the EU Commission with middleware ("German eIDAS middleware"). This implements an adapted eID server with an eIDAS interface in accordance with the specifications in Part 3 of the BSI Technical Guideline TR-03130 and realises the server-side component of the authentication process with the online ID function.

The Federal Office for Information Security, together with its partners from industry, has undertaken the technical work for the integration of the identity card into the systems of other EU member states.

Information on the German eIDAS middleware

The German eIDAS middleware is published under the open-source licence of the European Union ("European Union Public Licence (EUPL)") on Github. The latest release of the source code and the associated docker image can be found at: https://github.com/Governikus/eidas-middleware

Hash values (SHA-256) of the German eIDAS middleware

• eidas-middleware-3.3.0.jar (Version 3.3.0)
  8907f7ab73e2d6ab9285839918173bf295de780639902181d956e969c80fd81e
• eidas-middleware-3.2.0.jar (Version 3.2.0)
  8446e3b0dd89e4547a8125fdc183ee862dd28e877b79b89803cb587f3e365c5c
• eidas-middleware-3.1.0.jar (Version 3.1.0)
  95c84083a3ad0e2faefea856fee10adfb8edd38a06869df1c7f2f34ab78f07d5
• eidas-middleware-3.0.0.jar (Version 3.0.0)
  de01d8cd235fb1248d0605d8b648d07a26d2e19b43177b1d375e7d541e457c90
• eidas-middleware-2.2.8.jar (Version 2.2.8)
  8c4ab8457e5dd2f24bbd234f088e75c4652a2ec2bb55b6e51a7d48338b291ad7

Minimum data record of the online ID function

eIDAS minimum data record	German eID
Current last name(s)	Last name
Current first name(s)	First name
Date of birth	Date of birth
Unambiguous identification	Pseudonym
First name(s) and last name(s) at the time of birth	Names at birth (if available)
Place of birth	Place of birth
Address	Address
Sex	N/A

Contact

You can send an e-mail to eid@bsi.bund.de. For encrypted communication you can use S/MIME or PGP.