Biometrics, digital signatures and smart cards are becoming the methods of citizen identification both in the issuance of driver's licenses, as well as in electronic passports and biometric voting.By Osvaldo Callegari
There are many changes that have occurred in the world since information technology became an essential part of the lives of human beings, companies and humans. Proof of this is e-goverment, a process that generates a turning point in digital transformation.
A transversal world: there is a society that shares and is linked through networks. Through new communication models, new structures appear that aim at the modernization of public services with the emergence of companies involved in the industrialization of data. Governments have more and more challenges due to the demands of their citizens and companies need to be taken into account for a series of basic needs, such as road safety. E-government does not escape this requirement. The fundamental premise is the security of personal data and that each person can independently control their data.
"E-government, e-government or e-government consists of the use of information technologies and knowledge in internal government processes and in the delivery of state products and services to both citizens and industry. It is mainly based on the implementation of tools such as portals, ERPs, which in the case of governments are known as GRPs, CRMs, and many others, seeking an improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes and linkage with society." (Taken from Wikipedia.org.)
E-inclusion in government has been adopted in Europe by countries such as Estonia, Belgium, France, Spain and Brazil, with different models in Ireland and Britain. The use of online voting, such as electronic driving licences, is increasingly used in the European community.
Therefore, we will present a case study developed in Nueva León, Mexico.
Project: Driver's license with chip, by engineer Jorge Domene Zambrano, June 2008.
Vehicle control
The vehicle control institute was created through a new law on December 2, 2005, a new decentralized public body of the Government of the State of Nuevo León with legal personality, its own assets, technical and management autonomy, character of fiscal authority and formed by a council of citizen participation.
Its objectives included:
• Organize, operate and manage vehicle, driver and lien records; their registration, referendum, notices and history of sanctions.
• Coordinate and exchange information with various government entities, for the development of comprehensive public policies; urban development, environment, public safety, law enforcement.
• Design, issue and renew the means of vehicle and driver identification; licenses, plates, circulation card, plasticized.
• Collect and administer vehicle contributions; referendum, vehicle ownership, ISAN, used car ownership, etc.
Your vision
Have more advanced registration systems at the national level of:
•Easy capture, administration and verification
•Safeguard vehicle and driver information
•Allow the exchange of data with various agents of society
Diagram of operation and operation
Implementation of the technological infrastructure
Digitization of images
10 million images – Dossiers 2003-2008 - 90% progress
e-ID Cards
e-Id id cards are similar to access cards, with the difference that they internally possess a microchip and are considered an electronic element. Its three main functions are: identification, authentication and signature. Its first function is to identify the bearer of it.
With the addition of the microchip allows two levels of identification:
•Face-to-face visual identification
•Automatic identification
It is also used to capture information stored on the chip remotely. This process can be done through the Internet.
This identification (can be visual or automatic) does not guarantee that the wearer is the person they claim to be. To verify this, authentication is required.
The chip that is in the e-ID card is now used for its second function: to authenticate the cardholder.
Digital authentication is done electronically.
In some countries such as Belgium this function is optional for users, they can indicate whether or not they want authentication.
In turn, a revalidation function is present with a second certificate located on the chip and acting as an authentic electronic signature.
The electronic signature has the same legal value as its paper equivalent, after having inserted the card into the reader a pin is created that generates a single signature on the document. In the event that it is a child, authentication is automatically deactivated.
Examples of operational applications of the citizen
Specific cases of uses of the e-id card in European applications and its benefits.
Electronic signature
•Can digitally sign Word documents, pdf, emails
Electronic signature for postal items
•Packages with an internal signature can be sent within countries that have approved the service such as Belgium, Austria
Electronic payment
•It is now possible to receive electronic payments from telecommunications operators.
Electronic certificates with the authorities
•Documents can be issued with the authorities electronically.
Student Cards
•It is quite common in Belgium to use e-id in private schools for their students.
Tax returns
•Handling all taxes.
Banking transactions
•Online banking processes
Hotel Registration
•This facilitates a customer loyalty process in the main hotels.
Areas of application
•Network Administrators
•Police stations
•Post offices
•Banks
•Social sectors
•Rental services
•Transportation
•Health in hospitals
Advantages
• Save time on more efficient identifications than by physical means.
• Quality in the handling of information, fewer errors.
• Economy and ecology, a reduction in the cost of used paper and less filling of spreadsheets.
•Online access control, processes to cards can be done remotely without the need for a physical connection.
Areas of influence
•Internet sites where specific access is required (work at home, restricted users, secure mail)
•Restriction for children to certain sites (forums, online games)
Application on a driver's license
Specifications of your technology
•Biometrics - Face photography
Capture at 7.1 megapixels
Match with AFIS footprint*
•Biometrics - fingerprints
Capture AFIS quality (minutiae)
Wsq compression (FBI standard)
Comparison 1:1 / 1:n (search engine)
•Digital signature
Electronic capture pad
•Smart Card - contact chip
On-site personalization - storage of 2Kb driver information (general data including driver photograph, and history of fines)
Public and private areas in the chip structure (protects data reading and writing)
3DES encryption algorithm*
Redundant information system (PVC printing and barcode)
Solution Architecture
Experience and considerations
Lessons learned from the most advanced countries
•Benefits and obstacles of smart card-based identity systems
•Summaries of the European response and best practices.
e-government: catalyst for modernization
In the vast majority of countries that apply it, e-government has begun to integrate extensively for a modernization of public services and governance structures. It has been proven that a high digital level of equipment in companies act as a vector of prosperity and growth; the growth in the countries that implemented it speaks for itself.
A large number of states have determined that it is better to do more promotion to modernized systems, which increasingly use less paper, it is this option that encourages ecology and the environment, although it is also aimed at making the citizen feel that they are being provided with a service and greater security.
The countries that in Europe opted for this technification in a massive way at the government level are Estonia, Malta, Austria, Belgium and Portugal.
One of the biggest challenges in modernizing public services is taking consumer data and accounts that comes with a subsequent culture of using spreadsheets and papers. It is seen that the handling of all personal information of users must be shown with total transparency and security by the agencies that control them; to do this, the state and public authorities should try to guarantee the implementation processes and control rules that must be followed when it comes to personal documents.
The impact of this modernization means that the following points must be taken into account:
1.Role of the state and public authorities
2.La security between government agencies and their e-ID customers
3.The service provided: e-government
The reintegration of ethical principles and related values: e-governance.
Identity is the access key in electronic form of personal data.
Identification is used so that citizens can authenticate. It enables the management of authorizations guaranteed to users identified according to who they are, what role and what mandate they have in relation to their specific requirement. When this process is established correctly, the doors of the digital world are opened to the citizen who does not have to fill out more extensive forms every time he carries out a procedure, also with the advantage that the validations are made by the government.
To avoid confusion, an electronic signature is used to indicate the approval of an electronic document. It ensures that the document cannot be sabotaged and controls its integrity.
Authentication and signature are essential features of a digital system, ensuring legal validity, fraud prevention and protection of citizens' privacy. Some countries are skeptical that all information is centralized by the government and prefer multiple services and multiple identification systems.
Conclusions
Of course, this presented technology must go through a maturation process before being fully accepted, given that each particular country has its own interests worldwide and that the citizen does not feel entirely confident in a single centralized service. Case studies if they show that with the driver's license in Nueva León in Mexico good results are reflected given that there is greater control over drivers and procedures for fines, reducing the number of accidents that occur per year by requiring them to comply with the road rules, in any case this scourge of transport is far from being resolved in its entirety.
The Nueva León project in Mexico was presented in Brazil by Engineer Jorge Domene Zambrano.
In future articles we will show the different security methods in e-government services.
The case presented corresponds to the company GEMALTO and one of its clients in Mexico. The names and brands mentioned are names and trademarks of their respective authors.
If you want you can write to the author at the email [email protected]
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