The new ID card
By November 1, 2010 the ID card hitherto in use in Germany will be replaced by the new personal identity card, with built-in electronic identification and signature functions. At first glance, the new ID card differs from the old one only in form - it will be the same size and shape as an everyday debit card. But an RFID chip located on its inside stores the data that today can only be read optically from the document. The new cards can also be read wirelessly. To ensure that only authorised parties can access the data, their information on the card is protected by cryptography, and data is transmitted through a cryptographically secured protocol. These measures are intended to prevent access by unauthorised parties. The cardholder can personally designate who gets access to the data by means of a six-digit PIN. At the same time, government legislature regulates who may...