New French national ID card projected to curb identity theft

By eGovInnovation Editors | Jul 25, 2011

Thumbnail: 

LONDON - The new French national ID card is expected to protect against identity theft and offers a new way to interact with administration services. However, to open a digital world for French citizens, the government has to focus on smart card readers' deployment.

"The French eID card program is conveyed to tackle the identity theft problem, which is of growing importance in the country," said Jean-Noel Georges, Global Director Smart Cards Practice at Frost & Sullivan. "The proposed solution is a smart card with two chips: one including personal data with biometric information, and a second one for e-services, with the latter usage optional only."

Before implementing the project, the government faced two challenges: one is ensuring privacy for users and the other is making sure the IDs use in e-commerce transactions is administered properly. Frost & Sullivan said these could hinder the e-service usage adoption if smart card readers are not deployed

France is a leader in the smart card market industry, with three major players from the top five operating in the country: Gemalto, Oberthur, and Morpho. Despite of this, France is still using old style documents such as drivers license or national ID card. The research firm said the country should follow Germany's steps and move forward to be a part of the digital world by employing advanced technologies and promote them among citizens.

"Ten European countries already have implemented the usage of the smart card as an eID, with Germany having introduced a two-chip ID card in Nov 2010," said Georges.

In its latest report entitled "Quantitative Global Forecaster", Frost & Sullivan also disclosed that the government ID market worldwide has been growing significantly and is projected to reach 198-million unit shipment in 2011, or a market growth rate of 4.2 percent.