Open eCard Library is the world’s first Open Source "eID-Kernel" certified by BSI

The platform-independent Open eCard App was already certified in 2015 under the certificate ID BSI-K-TR-0192-2015 by the German Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, BSI) according to the Technical Guideline BSI TR-03124 (eID-Client). Based on this the eID- experts of the ecsec GmbH have developed a compact eID-library that has been published as the world’s first Open Source "eID-Kernel". The eID-library has recently been certified by the BSI under the certificate ID BSI-K-TR-0333-2019. The free and trustworthy Open eCard Library for Android allows to perform electronic identification with the German eID card directly within smartphone apps and enables a particularly convenient mobile identification. Additional devices such as card readers are not necessary any more.

Open eCard now enables the use of eID functionality directly within in POSTIDENT App

Deutsche Post AG is the leading provider of identification methods in Germany for many years. In addition to the familiar identification in the post office, the company offers various procedures for online authentication that meet a wide range of regulatory requirements.

Thanks to the innovative and recently certified Open eCard technology, the POSTIDENT App now provides a particularly convenient, secure and mobile option for legitimation based on the eID function of the German eID card “Personalausweis”. The integration of Open eCard into the POSTIDENT App turns the customer’s mobile phone into a mobile card terminal.

After entering a transaction number, the user chooses between the different identification procedures within the POSTIDENT App. If he chooses "POSTIDENT via eID”, the electronic identification can be performed within a few seconds. For this purpose, a connection is established between the eID card or electronic residence permit with eID functionality and the user’s Android smartphone via the NFC interface. By entering the six-digit eID-PIN, the user provides her consent for the encrypted transmission of the requested identity attributes.

The POSTIDENT App with eID and Open Source as a symbol for smart digitalisation

According to the German Federal Government, more than 60 million electronic identity cards and over 9 million electronic residence permits with eID functionality have been issued in Germany, which can potentially be used for electronic identification. Every year, around 8 million identity cards and around 1.3 million residence permits are added.

"The integration of the eID function into the POSTIDENT App complements our broad portfolio of identification offerings in a targeted manner. This enables our customers to conveniently use the eID functionality of their identity card directly via their smartphone," explains Steffen Ferrari, Vice President Identity Management at Deutsche Post. “The impact of the solution, which has been jointly realised together with our partners Deutsche Post AG and SEVEN PRINCIPLES AG goes far beyond increased security and convenience in a popular and broadly used application such as POSTIDENT," adds Dr. Detlef Hühnlein, Managing Director of ecsec GmbH. "Rather, the use of the eID functionality based on trustworthy and BSI-certified Open Source technology is to be understood as a blueprint for smart digitalisation of business processes and as symbol and impulse for the digital transformation of Germany and Europe. This is expressly recommended to be imitated!”

About the Open eCard project

The Open eCard Team (https://openecard.org) consists of industrial and academic experts, who have joined forces to provide an Open Source and platform independent implementation of eCard-API-framework according to BSI TR-03112, such that arbitrary applications can easily access arbitrary smart cards for authentication and signature purposes. A first result of the project was the Open eCard App, which has been the first Open Source eID-Client certificated according to BSI TR-03124 and now also the first Open Source eID-Kernel for Android and the first free ChipGateway-Client.

About Deutsche Post AG

Deutsche Post (https://www.dpdhl.com) is the largest postal service provider in Europe and market leader in the German letter and parcel market. With the strong Deutsche Post brand and around 155,000 employees committed to the highest service standards, the company is recognised as "Die Post für Deutschland" and as one of the leading providers of international letter and parcel services. Deutsche Post’s range of products and services combines the present and future of postal and communications services: from letter and parcel delivery to secure electronic communication and dialogue marketing for private and business customers. As a pioneer, the company is developing new technologies such as CO2-neutral shipping and logistics solutions for online trading.

Deutsche Post is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. In 2018, the group generated revenues of more than 61 billion Euros.

About SEVEN PRINCIPLES

Enabling Your Digital Business: SEVEN PRINCIPLES AG (7P) (https://www.7p-group.com) offers innovative IT services for the digitalisation of business models and processes. The range of services covers the entire IT value chain, from process and architecture consulting to software development, system integration and managed services. Innovative topics such as BI/Big Data Analytics, cloud consulting, SAP-HANA consulting & development, security and agile software development are the focus of the 7P customers, who primarily come from the telecommunications, automotive, energy and travel, transport & logistics sectors. 7P, headquartered in Cologne, Germany, employs nationwide more than 500 people.