EP3707669A1

EP3707669A1 - Method for obtaining a digital id with a high level of security

Info

Publication number: EP3707669A1
Application number: EP18814669.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stéphanie LION; Thomas FOUTREIN; Thomas Fleury
Original assignee: Imprimerie Nationale SA
Current assignee: Imprimerie Nationale SA
Priority date: 2017-11-10
Filing date: 2018-11-09
Publication date: 2020-09-16
Also published as: WO2019092327A1; FR3073643A1; FR3073643B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for creating a digital ID and making same available to a citizen, said citizen having previously transmitted personal identification information to a government agency capable of verifying this personal information and of securely transmitting same to a State-licensed industrial production site for the production of physical ID cards, characterised in that it includes steps that consist of: - creating a digital duplicate of a physical government ID card, comprising at least one digital photograph of said card; - encoding said digital duplicate in at least one QR code; - sending the citizen a URL link to a digital ID management application, as well as a code for activating his or her digital ID in said management application; - for the citizen, downloading said application onto a telephone provided with a screen capable of displaying QR codes, and activating his or her digital ID using the received activation code, so that the citizen can display the QR codes containing his or her digital ID in encoded form.

Description

Method for obtaining a high security digital identity

The invention relates to a method for obtaining a digital identity of substantial or high security level (regalian level), suitable for use by citizens in particular to identify with the police, but also in all types of security. face-to-face or online services to ensure the reliable identification of those who use these services.

State of the art

Currently when law enforcement officers wish to control the identity of a citizen who is physically present at a checkpoint, they ask him to present a piece of identification (National Identity Card, Passport , Residence permit, ...). They can then be confronted with one of the following issues:

- the citizen has no identity document with him (forgetfulness, loss, ...),

- the document presented is falsified,

- the document presented does not belong to the citizen who presents it.

In addition, in the area of securing online and internet transactions, the Web giants, with services such as "Facebook Connect", "Google Account", "Yahoo! ID" or "Paypal" have conquered millions Internet users. In exchange for a simple but insecure identity management, Internet users must agree to be traced, or even risk being deprived of the control of their own digital identity.

But we can note that today the majority of citizens have more often with it his smartphone, still called "smartphone", as his identity documents. The question of the interest of dematerialization of regal identity documents to smartphones can then arise.

The problem posed by the dematerialization of a regal document to a smartphone is to be able to ensure the authenticity of the digital document presented and data contained (surname, first name, date and place of birth, biometric data, ...).

It is known, for example from patent FR 2 987 464 B1 (THALES), that the use of one or more biometric QR codes makes it possible to create a machine readable image of encoded and protected identity data on a smart card type document. This QR Code has the following characteristics:

- it may contain an image that is a photograph of the corresponding regal piece of identification;

- it may contain the personal data of the holder of the corresponding regal identification document: surname, first name, date and place of birth, gender, size;

it may contain one or more biometric data characteristic of the wearer of the corresponding royal identity document: identity photo, characteristics of the imprint, characteristics of the iris;

it can be encrypted so as to be readable only by certain reading devices, for example those of the sworn agents;

it can be digitally signed with appropriate cryptographic algorithms to guarantee the authenticity of the data source and the integrity of the data contained.

However, the document cited above does not solve several disadvantages. In particular, there is no assurance as to the authenticity of the carrier's source data, nor as to the validity of the link between these source data and an existing sovereign identity document. In addition, being a smart card document, it does not link to a device worn more often by users, such as a smartphone or other portable electronic object, such as a tablet or a smart watch .

Goals of the invention A general object of the invention is therefore to provide a method for obtaining a digital identity of substantial or high security level, able to avoid the disadvantages of known methods.

A more specific object of the invention is to propose a method for creating a digital identity of substantial or high level, equivalent to the regal title in its ability to authenticate the identity of a person and effective to fight against identity fraud, and in any case, a higher level of security than the security of digital identification processes commonly used on the internet.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of creating a strong digital identity using as support a portable device usual users, such as a mobile phone with a screen.

Principle of the solution according to the invention It is accepted in most States that the identification of natural or legal persons is a sovereign responsibility: the States remain the guarantors of the identity of their nationals. In this sense, digital identity is a subject of national sovereignty, and it is accepted that an "electronic certificate" issued by a private body, whatever it may be, can not match the probative power of a sovereign identity.

Therefore, the principle of the present invention is to create a digital original of a regal title, namely a digital identity constructed from a regal physical title (national identity card, passport, ...), and to make this digital identity available on mobile electronic devices, such as citizens' smartphones or other portable electronic devices provided with a display screen, for use in the context of the physical identification of the wearer, or its electronic identification for the conduct of online transactions.

Summary of the invention The invention therefore relates to a method for creating and making available to a citizen a digital identity, said citizen having previously transmitted personal identity information to a regal service capable of verifying this personal information and to transmitting them securely to an industrial production site approved by a State for the production of physical identity documents, characterized in that it comprises steps of:

creating a digital duplicate of the physical regal title, comprising at least one digital photograph of said title;

coding said digital duplicate in at least one QR code, preferably a set of QR codes;

transmitting to the citizen an url link to a digital identity management application, as well as an activation code of his digital identity with said management application;

for the citizen, downloading said management application on a portable electronic device provided with a screen capable of displaying a QR code, and activating his digital identity using the activation code received, so that the citizen can display the QR code (s) containing its digital identity in coded form.

Preferably, said digital photograph is a high definition photograph.

Said portable electronic device provided with a display screen is advantageously a smartphone, an electronic tablet, or a connected watch, without this list being exhaustive.

According to the invention, the QR codes are either stored in a secure database or recalculated on demand from the personal information of the requester.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the digital identity comprises in addition to a digital photograph of the physical regal title, information administrative (name, size, gender, address, ...) and / or biometric of the citizen, coded in the QR Code (s).

The biometric information is for example constituted by a coding of the fingerprints of the citizen, a coding of the iris, and / or a photograph of identity of the citizen, without this list being exhaustive.

According to a mode of implementation of the method, the digital identity of the citizen thus obtained is stored in a secure database, with the administrative and / or biometric data of the citizen that have made it possible to produce the associated physical title and the own data. the physical title (unique number, date of issue, ...).

The database can be managed by an authorized industrialist for the production of royal identity documents, with access authorization by the regal service responsible for the management of requests for digital identity, or managed directly by a State. . Preferably, the stored digital identities are encrypted with an encryption key specific to the police, so that only law enforcement agents equipped with terminals equipped with a QR Code reader and a security key. adequate decryption can decrypt and read this data.

The invention also relates to the use of a digital identity for the identification by the police of a citizen provided with a portable terminal such as a smartphone in which is stored the digital identity under form encoded by a set of QR Code (s), characterized in that it comprises steps of:

- for a law enforcement officer, request the presentation of a regal identity document;

- for the citizen, launch on his smartphone a digital identity management application and display the QR codes containing the digital identity;

- For the law enforcement officer, read the displayed QR codes using a QR Codes reader terminal and decipher the QR codes using a decryption application and a decryption key capable of extracting displayed QR codes, citizen identification information (photography, administrative information, biometric information).

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram representing the stages of preparation of a digital identity following a request for a sovereign status by a citizen;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the steps for activating a digital identity obtained as described with reference to FIG. 1;

- Figure 3 is a diagram showing the steps implemented in the context of an example of use of a digital identity obtained by the method according to the invention.

detailed description

It is recalled the known process of delivery in France of a physical regal title alone, it being understood that similar processes exist in most countries.

1- Citizen X requests a new identity document (Passport, National Identity Card) from a State representative (for example in the City Hall) by providing the requested documents and information, as well as the fingerprints of his fingers.

2- An audit of the information of the citizen is made by a state entity (for example a Prefecture) before requesting the production of the identity document by an authorized industrialist.

3- Upon receipt of the production request from the representative of the State concerned, the State-approved manufacturer starts the manufacture of the security based on data securely transmitted by the State entity. 4- The manufactured title is sent by the manufacturer to the representative of the requesting State (for example the Town Hall of the citizen's domicile).

5- Information concerning the title (serial number, date of issue, ...) is transmitted to a state entity that centralizes and stores this type of data, for example in France: the National Agency for Secured Securities

(ANTS).

6- The citizen is invited to come and withdraw his regal physical title in town hall.

7- When giving the title to the citizen, the State Agent verifies that he is the initial applicant for the title, for example by comparing the fingerprints of the person who withdraws the title, with those encoded in the title. This comparison is made by means of a fingerprint sensor to obtain the fingerprints of the applicant, and a fingerprint analysis software that can indicate whether the fingerprints presented by the requestor match those stored in the memory of the analysis device. .

8- The title is given to the citizen, who can then use it to identify himself to an authority in the event of a physical identity check.

As we saw above, the citizen does not always have the physical identity document with him, which does not allow him to identify himself. In addition, the physical identity document does not allow him to identify himself online, especially for secure transactions on the internet.

It is therefore necessary to propose a process capable of constructing a digital identity, the probative force of which is equivalent to that of a classical physical regal document.

1st variant of the method according to the invention: construction of a digital identity in case of production of a physical title

According to a first basic variant of the method according to the invention, a digital identity is constructed in the wake of the production of a physical identity document, and securely delivered to the applicant of the physical title.

The steps of this process are shown schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2. 1) The citizen X asks for a new regal title from a representative of the State (for example a Town hall) by providing his administrative information required, namely surname, first name, date and place of birth, gender, email address, as well as a phone number where he can be contacted to tell him that his title is ready. The process of applying for a title is so far very close to that existing to date and recalled above. All data in the title application is stored in a database maintained by ANTS or an equivalent state agency. Unlike the known method, the citizen asks for a digital identity, in addition to the demand for a physical regal title. 2) A verification of citizen information is done by a state entity (for example a Prefecture in France) before requesting the production of the title and digital identity.

3) After validation of the information, the request for the manufacturing of the physical title is transmitted to a manufacturer authorized by the State to produce the regal title. 4) Upon receipt of the production request from the State entity, the authorized industrialist starts manufacturing the title from the data received.

Unlike the known process, leaving the production line of the title, the manufacturer also creates a "double" digital title, which constitutes a digital identity of the applicant. This consists of a high-definition photograph of the physical title and a QR Code (possibly a biometric QR code such as that described in the document FR 2 987 454 A1) which embeds one or more coded information, for example a coding of the applicant's fingerprints, certain characteristics of his face, or a lower-definition identity photo obtained from high-definition photography. The digital identity thus obtained is then temporarily stored until the issuance of the title, in a secure database of the industrial, with the administrative and / or biometric data of the holder who have produced the title and data specific under title (unique number, date of issue, ...). Alternatively, the digital identity can be recalculated on demand, based on the applicant's information (photograph of the physical title, fingerprints and other biometric and administrative information of the requester) stored in the secure databases. Stored or recalculated data can be encrypted with a specific encryption key to law enforcement so that only law enforcement agents with adequate terminals can decrypt and read that data. The information concerning the security (serial number, date of issue, etc.) is transmitted to a state entity, for example ANTS in France, to update its database of government securities. The physical title manufactured is then sent to the representative of the requesting State (Mairie).

5) Citizen X is invited to pick up at the town hall his physical title, as well as an activation code for his digital identity. For example, an SMS message is sent to the citizen with two pieces of information: the announcement of the availability of his title and a URL link to a smartphone software application store, containing an application that allows him to create and manage a portfolio. individual digital titles.

6) The citizen downloads the application for managing his digital identity on his smartphone or equivalent. 7) (Figure 2) When the actual delivery of the title to the citizen, the state agent verifies that he is the applicant, for example by comparison of fingerprints as described above.

8) The City Council asks the industrialist the url link to activate the digital identity of the citizen X. In 9), the title is given to the citizen as well as a link url and a code of activation of his digital identity . The url link and the activation code can be delivered on paper or encoded in a QR code. The citizen uploads his digital identity containing his QR (s) Biometric code (s) using the link url received, activates in 10) its digital identity with the activation code it has received, and informs in 11) the entity that manages the digital identities. From there, the digital identity of the citizen is on his smartphone, and is exploitable to authenticate physically to the authorities, or online for substantial or strong identification with a government application or not.

At this stage, the applicant therefore has both a physical regal title, and a digital identity of high or substantial level modeled on the physical title. During the applicant's second visit to the town hall (phase 2, figure 2), the agent verified that the digital title corresponded to the person who appeared before him, just as for the physical title. The applicant therefore has at this stage two "originals" of titles, one physical, the other digital.

2nd variant of the process: construction of a digital identity in the absence of a request for a physical title

The method described above can be adapted for a Digital Identity request without producing a real title. In this case, the physical title photograph is not taken and is not included in the biometric QR codes, however the carrier's data is validated by the state. The activation code and the download link of the biometric QR codes are delivered by hand to the citizen when he withdraws his digital identity.

This variant of the method, not shown in the figures, is described in more detail below, the steps of the first variant which have become unnecessary are eliminated. la - The citizen requests a digital identity from a representative of the State (City Hall) by providing the requested documents and information and his fingerprints. 2a - A verification of information of the citizen is made by a state entity (Prefecture) before requesting the production of the digital identity.

3a - A biometric QR Code is calculated from the data as previously described.

4a - Information concerning the digital identity (serial number, date of issue, ...) is transmitted to a state entity.

5a - The citizen is invited to pick up at the town hall an activation code of his digital identity.

6a - When submitting the activation code to the citizen, the state agent verifies that he is the applicant (for example by comparison of fingerprints).

7a - The activation code of his digital identity and the means of receiving his biometric QR Code are given to the citizen. The citizen uploads his digital identity and must activate it with the activation code he has received. We will now describe the use of the digital identity obtained using the method according to the invention, using two use cases taken as practical examples.

1st case: control by police forces of a dematerialized identity document presented on a mobile phone

During a police check, a person is asked to show his identity card to a police officer:

- The person then launches on his smartphone the software application to manage his digital identity, and displays the biometric QR Code of his dematerialized title on his smartphone, so as to allow control by the police officer.

- The police officer approaches a portable control terminal equipped with a QR Code reader of the citizen's mobile phone, so that he can read and decode the QR Code displayed on the citizen's phone, and thus retrieve the biographical and biometric data of the citizen which are stored in the QR Code. This control operation is possible locally even with a QR Code reader not connected to a network, provided that the QR Code reader of the agent has the decryption key or keys corresponding to the one (s) which were used to encode the citizen's data in the QR Code of the smartphone.

Different levels of control are therefore possible: from the simple visual control of the integrity of the data on the dematerialized title displayed on the screen of the smartphone, to the more in-depth control of the citizen by exploiting his biometric information.

One can of course consider a reinforced level of security, in which the policeman's control terminal is connected to the internet, and access in real time to the dematerialized securities database.

2nd case: strong authentication of Internet users for access to online services

In this case, shown schematically in FIG. 3, a user wishes to access an online service, for example an e-government service, an online banking or insurance service, etc., using his stored digital identity. in his smartphone:

1) The service's website displays an authentication request and indicates that it can identify itself using a digital identity provided by an identity provider of a sufficient level and approved by the service. online;

2) The user chooses to connect using his digital identity stored in his smartphone;

3) A notification is then sent by the online service to the mobile application of the phone that manages the digital identity of the user, and the notification informs the user that a web service wants to access his data;

4) The user accepts and enters an unlock code of his mobile application for managing his digital identity, so that the online service can access the digital identity of the user; 5) The data useful for the e-government service is automatically shared with the online service, in a secure way, and the user accesses the service immediately. Advantages of the invention

The invention achieves the stated goals and has a number of advantages over known methods for obtaining a digital identity.

The method according to the invention is easy to implement.

From the point of view of the production of a digital identity, the main file necessary for the compilation of identity data already exists, since it is used for the production of physical regals. In addition, in the production cycle of physical securities, the industrial manufacturer can easily create a "digital original" out of the press, when it produces the physical title. The process of returning titles to applicants also exists: they already receive an SMS-type message announcing the availability of the physical title, so it would be easy to add to this SMS a link url to a mobile application to manage and to make available digital identities.

The numerical title obtained by the process is strictly equal to the physical title, and has the same probative force.

In order to obtain digital identity, it is essential that the digital original be derived from the physical original for several reasons:

- Compared to devices such as those set up by private companies, it is much more secure: where these companies entrust a non-sworn employee to validate a digital title for a customer, the solution proposed by the The invention integrates it into the regal procedure of civil status, with sworn agents and with reinforced means of control.

- The proposed solution falls totally under the control of a state entity (for example the Ministry of the Interior) which, directly or by delegation to an industrialist, assigns the QR Code at the end of line and manages the database information used for the production of sovereign titles. From the point of view of the use of the digital identity obtained as described above, the invention allows:

- to keep the citizen's biometric QR codes so that he can present them without a network connection to a law enforcement officer in the event of an identity check;

to display, after entering a personal unlock code, the photograph of the original title (Identity card, Passport, ...)

- Display, after entering a personal unlock code, a temporary QR Code to identify the citizen on an agent's control terminal or on a base station to a place or a service;

to authenticate or identify themselves to an online service through an identity provider using a digital identity constructed as explained above.

In short, the process according to the invention is also economically advantageous. The generalization of tools allowing the general public to safely prove their identity to the police or to an online service could create significant productivity gains, since behind the digital identity lies the indisputable identity of the digital identity owner, which is the foundation of digital trust and the growth of connected services.

Claims

1 - A method of creating and providing a citizen with a digital identity, said citizen having previously transmitted personal identity information to a regal service capable of verifying this personal information and transmitting it securely to a State-approved industrial production site for the production of physical identity documents, characterized in that it comprises steps of:

coding said digital double in at least one QR Code or several QR

Codes;

- For the citizen, download said application on a portable electronic device provided with a screen capable of displaying QR codes, and activate his digital identity using the activation code received, so that the citizen can display the QR Codes containing his digital identity in coded form.

2 - Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said portable electronic device is a smartphone, an electronic tablet, or a connected watch.

3 - Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the QR codes are either stored in a secure database or recalculated on demand from the personal information of the applicant.

4 - Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said digital photograph is a high definition photograph. 5 - Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the digital identity comprises in addition to a digital photograph of the physical regal title, administrative information (name, size, gender, address, ...) and / or biometrics of the citizen, coded in the QR Codes.

6 - Process according to claim 5, characterized in that the biometric information is constituted by a coding of the fingerprints of the citizen, a coding of the iris, and / or a photograph of identity of the citizen.

7 - Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the digital identity of the citizen thus obtained is stored in o o a secure database, with the administrative and / or biometric data of the citizen that have allowed to produce the associated physical title and the data specific to the physical title (unique number, date of issue, etc.).

8 - Process according to claim 7, characterized in that the secure database is managed by the industrial site, with access authorization by

15 the regal service in charge of managing requests for digital identity.

9 - Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the stored digital identities are encrypted with an encryption key specific to the police, so that only law enforcement agents equipped with terminals provided. a QR Code reader and a decryption key can decrypt and read this data.

10 - Use of a digital identity obtained according to the method according to one of the preceding claims, for the identification by the police of a citizen provided with a portable terminal provided with a screen, such as smartphone, tablet or smart watch, in which the digital identity is stored in coded form in at least one QR code, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:

- for a law enforcement officer, request the presentation of a regal identity document; - for the citizen, launch on his portable terminal a digital identity management application and display at least one QR Code containing the digital identity;

- for the law enforcement officer, read the QR Code (s) displayed on the citizen's terminal, using a QR Codes reading terminal, and decipher the QR Code (s). (s) by means of a decryption application and a decryption key capable of extracting displayed QR codes, the identification information of the citizen (photography, administrative information, biometric information).