Identify yourself digitally, easily and securely with your smartphone

Cybersecurity expertise for the implementation of the digital EUDI wallet in Germany

© Felix Adler
Participants of the innovation competition “EUDI Wallet Prototypes” test the integration of ID data into the wallet app.


Easy-to-use and secure electronic identities (eID) and credentials are essential building blocks for access to digital services in areas of life such as mobility, finance, health, public administration and education. From 2027, EUDI wallets will create the basis for a trustworthy, Europe-wide interoperable ecosystem for digital identities and credentials - user-friendly on smartphones. SPRIND - Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen is responsible for implementation in Germany on behalf of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). Fraunhofer AISEC is a cybersecurity partner. By focusing on the user experience, the project creates important foundations for broad acceptance among the population and thus for fully digital and efficient processes in society, business and administration.

 

According to the amended eIDAS Regulation on electronic identification and trust services, which came into force in May 2024, all EU member states must certify and provide at least one European wallet for digital identities (EUDI wallet) by the end of 2026. It enables users to identify themselves via smartphone, save documents as proof, authorize transactions and sign with the qualified electronic signature (QES) - without additional hardware. The wallet also supports pseudonymous authentication for all services that do not require the identification of a natural person. Non-governmental providers such as companies or research institutions can also have their own EUDI wallets recognized.

 

Focus on user-friendliness

To implement the amended eIDAS Regulation in Germany, the BMI commissioned SPRIND to develop a concept for the EUDI wallet ecosystem in Germany and the state EUDI wallet. BMI and SPRIND implemented this project together with the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Bundesdruckerei, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security AISEC and PwC. When developing the EUDI wallet, particular emphasis is placed on acceptance and user-friendliness. The future user interfaces will be designed intuitively and all functions should be easily accessible. 

 

Focus on safety

the wallet. Various architecture options were described for the wallet's identification function and compared in terms of information security, privacy, usability and scalability. After intensive testing, the architecture variant (variant C') was selected for the implementation of the government wallet, which works with the smartphones already available to citizens today. It combines hardware security anchors in the cloud with signed data and thus makes it possible to store keys with the highest protection requirements in secure hardware, thereby minimizing the risk of transactions being observable. 

Fraunhofer AISEC is a cybersecurity partner and supports the project with expertise in the design of secure eID architectures, risk analysis and “usable security and privacy” (cybersecurity, in the development of which users are closely involved from the outset) and mobile security. 

The wallet ecosystem and the state wallet itself are being developed in a transparent and public consultation process with all stakeholders and the public. The rollout is to take place gradually with an expanded range of functions by 2027. The EUDI wallet is considered to be the EU's largest digital policy project, with the aim of equipping at least 80% of EU citizens with a digital identity by 2030. 

 

Further information