Electronic identity in Finland: ID cards vs. bank IDs

This chapter describes the introduction and diffusion of the FinnishElectronic Identity Card (FINEID card). FINEID establishes an electronic identity (eID), based on the civil registry and placed on an identity chip card issued byFinnish government to Finnish citizens and permanent residents from age 18 andolder. It is a non-mandatory electronic identity card introduced in 1999 in order toreplace the older citizen ID card. It serves as a travel document and is intended tofacilitate access to eGovernment services as well as offering a possibility to signelectronically. Therefore the chip contains two certificates: one for authenticationpurposes, and one for qualified signatures. The eID function had to compete with thealready existing PIN/TAN based TUPAS standard for online authentication foreBanking, eCommerce and eGovernment applications, and has lost this battle byreaching less than one percent of all online authentications. The history, actorconstellation, time line and barriers will be described and a few communalities anddifferences to other countries under study in this special issue will be highlighted