Passport and ID card systems
Bundesdruckerei GmbH has a long tradition of producing documents using state-of-the-art technology and meeting the highest standards in terms of forgery protection. Our solutions help you to capture, process, manage, transmit and personalize personal data and also to protect ID documents.
Capturing, processing, managing and transmitting identities
In order to enable secure identities, be it an ID card or passport, staff at citizens’ registration offices or passport authorities in Germany and abroad must first capture the applicant’s biographical and biometric data, for instance, their name, date of birth, signature or fingerprint. All these steps must be carried out according to standardized quality parameters and depending on the type of document.
ID Enrolment platform
This is where the ID enrolment platform from Bundesdruckerei GmbH comes into play. This platform provides reliable and efficient support for all work steps along the entire process chain, from capturing the data, including automated plausibility checks and quality assessment, right down to encrypted and signed transmission to our personalization center. During data capture, certain guidelines and recommendations, for instance, by the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, or the specific national needs of different countries can be taken into consideration.
The ID enrolment platform is a modular system comprising peripheral devices (for instance, a PC, special camera, fingerprint scanner, signature pad or reader) and software (for instance, for capturing data). This enables the correct and secure capture, processing, storing and transmission of biographical and biometric data.
Self-service terminal
We have also developed a self-service terminal that applicants can use at the public authority to enter their own personal data. Companies can also use this device to accredit visitors faster.
Secure documents
The data captured is digitally encrypted, signed, sent to us and processed so that the ID documents can be produced and personalized. In this case, central or decentralized database solutions can be used depending on both legislation in the respective country and customer specifications.
A public key infrastructure warrants the security of the data. Only persons and devices integrated into the system can access and process the data. In this way, we can ensure that only genuine, authentic data is used in the next steps of the process.
We produce our documents on high-tech systems using state-of-the-art technology at our site in Berlin. Our documents meet the highest anti-counterfeiting standards. At the same time, the documents are easy to use. Electronic ID cards (eID cards) made of polycarbonate fully meet these requirements – this material makes the cards robust, a particularly important aspect in light of the long validity periods of many official ID documents. Their security features can be ideally adapted to the respective application field and forgeries are near to impossible thanks to multiple protection mechanisms. With the right kind of verification devices, the cards can be easily checked and databases can also be accessed if permitted by law. This makes it easier to detect identity fraud than with conventional ID documents. We have a wide range of documents on offer.
While basically serving as photo ID, for instance, in dealings with the police or public authorities, the German ID card in credit-card format can also be provided with the online ID function offering additional functions that make transactions on the Internet more convenient and secure. Holders of an electronic ID card with the online ID function can authenticate themselves on the Internet in a secure and reliable manner, enabling them, for instance, to open a bank account online. Only certain service providers, such as public authorities or companies in possession of a corresponding authorization certificate, can read the data stored on the chip of the ID card after the ID card holder has consented to this. In this way, both partners can rest assured that their virtual partner is in fact who they claim to be.
We produce the German electronic passport. A host of conventional, optical and machine-readable security features ensure outstanding protection against counterfeiting. Through Veridos GmbH, a joint venture between Bundesdruckerei und Giesecke & Devrient, we are also serving the international market and producing passports for foreign governments.
In addition to the ID card and electronic residence permit, the eID card for EU citizens also enables the online ID function. It allows citizens of the European Union and nationals of the European Economic Area to identify themselves online securely, easily and with a high level of trust. The eID card is only intended for digital services and is no replacement for recognized, valid foreign passports or ID cards, for instance, when travelling.
We produce electronic residence permits for Germany. The data stored on the chip of the electronic residence permit allows official authorities to reliably verify the identity of the card holder. With the online ID function, holders can also prove their identity to electronic applications on the Internet.
Personalizing documents
The applicant’s personal data is what makes an ID document unique. We operate one of the world’s largest specialist centers where we perform this so-called personalization of documents, both optically and electronically. We also provide tailor-made personalization solutions to be used by customers themselves, be it individual components or an entire personalization system.
We supply these customers with state-of-the-art production technology and, if necessary, the blank documents. The personalization solutions can be easily adapted to new types of documents. All of the software packages supplied by Bundesdruckerei GmbH for this purpose meet with international standards. Our personalization machines are suitable for both small and large countries, for registration offices and embassies, and even for companies operating in the private sector.
Interested in find out more about products for governments?
We will be happy to advise you on our solutions for secure identities.