In Germany the eID on Samsung smartphones

Thanks to the collaboration between Samsung, BSI (German Federal Office for Information Security), BDR (Bundesdruckerei) and Deutsche Telekom Security, some top-of-the-range smartphones of the South Korean group will be able to be used as certified ID card holders by the end of the year electronic.

The electronic identity card in the Galaxy smartphone

The solution dedicated to eID is part of the OPTIMOS 2.0 project implemented in order to create an open ecosystem through which to provide technologies and infrastructure for secure authentication via mobile devices. As part of the initiative, Samsung has made the SDK for embedded Secure Elements available to third parties, thus allowing developers to create applets for Trusted Service Manager (TSM) that can be implemented in a chipset-based security platform, ensuring a adequate level of information protection.



The first devices that can host the electronic identity card in Germany are those of the Galaxy S20 line: the standard model, the Plus model and the Ultra . The method will be considered valid throughout Europe and it is to be expected that the same will happen soon in other countries of the old continent. A perspective anticipated by the same manufacturer.

This is only the beginning. In a similar way to what happened with contactless payments a few years ago, customers will soon realize the benefits of having their credentials, including driver's license, the cards of the national health and even the keys of their car or their apartment, available on their smartphones, kept safe. Soon they may also be able to remotely test their identity for the consultation of medical records, to open a bank account or vote through the smartphone.

Supposedly the most forward compatibility will be extended to other models in the range Samsung.

Source: Samsung