Luxembourg Government Leverages Mobile ID, Biometric Tech for e-Services Authentication

Luxembourg appears to have joined the handful of countries that are on a path toward mobile ID. Residents of the European state now have access to a mobile ID app designed to act as a kind of authentication companion to the country’s physical ID card.

Dubbed ‘GouvID’, the app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or the Google Play store. To activate it, a Luxembourgish resident must use their phone’s camera to scan the MRZ of their physical ID card; then, they are instructed to place their phone on the front of the ID card so that it can wirelessly read the card’s electronic certificates.

From there, the mobile app can be used as a kind of security key-style authentication mechanism when accessing certain online government services. When logging into the MyGuichet.lu government e-services portal, a resident will be prompted to scan a QR code using the GouvID app, and then to tap their phone against their physical ID card in order to confirm their identity.

Notably, the user can also opt to take advantage of their smartphone’s biometric authentication capabilities to further enhance the security of the login process. Biometric authentication will be prompted right after the QR code scan; or, if the user has not enabled biometric authentication, they will have to enter their physical ID card’s PIN.

GouvID authentication allows Luxembourgish users to verify their identity when accessing MyGuichet.lu, the eCDF online tax filing system, and when registering a business online. According to RTL, it can also be used to streamline student loan and even fishing license applications.

It’s a long way from the identification (and reconnaissance) capabilities of Ukraine’s Diia citizen ID app, but the emergence of GouvID suggests that Luxembourg is another nation on track toward more comprehensive mobile ID programs, with China, the UK, and Barbados offering their own recent examples of mobile ID preparations getting underway.

Sources: RTL Today, Gouvernement.lu

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(Originally posted on Mobile ID World)