9 ms·

France Set to Roll Out Nationwide Facial Recognition ID Program

198 points by montalbano 7y ago

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
>France says the ID system won’t be used to keep tabs on residents. Unlike in China and Singapore, the country won’t be integrating the facial recognition biometric into citizens’ identity databases That's what they all say but once the systems exists the temptation is there to use it and each successive bunch of authoritarians will use it a little bit more. They don't even need to be more than a small minority of government to do it so long as they do it in small incremental steps (integrating it with more and more government functions).
- nandipmakwana 7y ago
  > That's what they all say but once the systems exists the temptation is there to use it and each successive bunch of authoritarians will use it a little bit more. Couldn't agree more. Just look at the Aadhaar system of India. As an Indian we are witnessing exact what you just said. It was created to stop leakage in Public Distribution System. But over the years it is made (not literally but still)mandatory for everywhere. If one google, they will find plenty of news where resident were denied access to basic services such as school/college admission, Hospital etc.
- black_puppydog 7y ago
  Don't see why this is getting downvoted. The list of examples is just too long. Germany recently changed their laws to allow easier access to registered information. It went from "we'll only use it for those pedo-bio-nuclear-terrorism cases that we keep telling you about" to "well but also for organized crime" to now supposedly "well or copyright infringement or petty theft".
- conanbatt 7y ago
  If it were true, they could release the system while making it illegal to be used in ANY kind of legal proceding ANY time now and in the future.
mosselman 7y ago
> Saying it wants to make the state more efficient, That is bold. Normally when governments want to destroy your privacy they claim they want to combat terrorism or something more horrible. They are going with making their processes more efficient?
- baud147258 7y ago
  I think the goal, as explained by other comments, is to allow to do thing remotely with your smartphone, instead of having to go to the city hall/administration building.
jacquesm 7y ago
One day we will regret this computer revolution in ways that we currently can't begin to imagine.
- Ensorceled 7y ago
  I would say quite a few sci-fi authors have done a good job on this ...
  - lucb1e 7y ago
    My favorite author in that genre is Daniel Suarez, who makes some scarily accurate thrillers. It's not all 100% realistic, but as someone who is often annoyed at the deus ex machina[1] of other (science) fiction, this is really great. The author is a former software engineer, so I guess they know quite well how technology works in general. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina
    - Ensorceled 7y ago
      That is one of my favourites as well, World of Warcraft meets the Real World in a way that, while not necessarily believable, did not cause retinae detachment from extreme eye-rolling.
  - drhodes 7y ago
    https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Butlerian_Jihad https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Butlerian_Jihad "The god of machine-logic was overthrown by the masses and a new concept was raised..."
mytailorisrich 7y ago
This is a rather poor and click-baity article. According to the French government's page on this system [1] (in French): The system is an app that generates login details to allow online access to (public?) services. You install the app on your smartphone. It uses NFC (I suppose) to read your picture (also other details?) from your passport's chip, and stores it locally on the phone. It then uses this to perform facial recognition using the phone camera in order to identify the phone's user. No biometric data leave the phone according to [1]. The stated aim is to allow people to conduct administrative tasks (forms, applications) fully online where it is not currently possible because a "hard ID check" is required. It will not be compulsory. It sounds a bit like Apple's Face ID but backed by official documents (passports) and with the government's seal of approval, some sort of passport check performed by your smartphone. [1] https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere/Alicem-la-premiere-solution-d-identite-numerique-regalienne-securisee https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere... As an aside comment, in France most people have a passport, and everyone has an ID card, which requires having photo and fingerprints taken. So this does not give the government anything that they don't already have (or could have) and it seems that they took precautions to avoid unnecessary transmissions of biometric data.
- mlthoughts2018 7y ago
  Until there’s a data breach or phone exploit of course. Because it certainly increases the surface area of vulnerability to such attacks.
  - mytailorisrich 7y ago
    In fairness most people already have pictures of themselves on their phones, and ID pictures stored in passports can be read by anyone (who is near enough).
    - mlthoughts2018 7y ago
      So you’re telling me the possible ways to commit fraud in a system that uses NFC-like photo-to-face recognition, on device, for official document validation is even worse. It’s like installing a vinegar factory right next door to the baking soda stock yards. It seems like you meant yo suggest that since “people already have this type of data on their phones” it makes it less risky? I definitely don’t understand that.
moksly 7y ago
Android only? I’m sure it’ll get an iOS version too, but what about people who don’t have smartphones? In Denmark we’re seeing more and more public services move to Apps. It used to be that there was an offline version, like in the case of our “NemID”, but now we’re talking about digital only drivers licenses and social security cards. The private sector had long embraced mobile apps, and it’s really hard to buy tickets, do banking and so on without a smartphone, but now we’re truly locking people into their mobile devices. And these devices aren’t free, I mean, it’s not just going to be “Android” only, it’s going to be “google play” or “Apple store” only. I’m not sure that’s very democratic. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll absolutely use these things and I currently use most of the available ones with great satisfaction, but it does concern me if we’re locking public services into privately owned ecosystems.
- aclelland 7y ago
  The lack of iOS support may be due to the way Apple restricts the use of NFC on iOS devices[1]. This seems to be changing in iOS 13 though. [1] https://gototags.com/blog/apple-expands-nfc-on-iphone-in-ios-13/ https://gototags.com/blog/apple-expands-nfc-on-iphone-in-ios...
- LeYaude 7y ago
  The information at [1] (in French) clearly states that alternative methods remain available. Here is the translation of an excerpt: "Creating an Alicem account is not mandatory. Users remain free of using available alternatives: - account creation on the specific service [Translator's note: this identification method is destined at the national SSO that is only one way of logging in the various public services] - other electronic identification methods on FranceConnect [Translator's note: FranceConnect is the name of this SSO. This includes at least fiscal number + password and social security number + password and maybe other methods] - traditional physical administrative procedures" I am not necessarily a fan of this identification method and for myself I consider it less secure than a sufficiently strong, properly stored and regularly updates password. Still, the argument of locking the users or making the smartphone mandatory does not stand. As for the collected biometric data, it is collected from the passport's chip, so technically the administration is already in possession of this data, there is nothing new here. I see this as completely independent from facial recognition surveillance (hence mandatory), which in my opinion we must fight against. [1] https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere/Alicem-la-premiere-solution-d-identite-numerique-regalienne-securisee https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere...
yardie 7y ago
Can we give french citizens the benefit of the doubt here. Living there I can tell you the resident are much quicker to point out these new systems as fascist than, say, Americans. Even in Paris, the number of surveillance cameras was dramatically lower than London. The police would tout the crime fighting advantages of having these cameras in certain areas, someone would write an opinion on Nazi occupied Paris, the camera talk would go dormant for a few more years. New director arrives and wants to install cameras in certain areas...
- 20190820234322 7y ago
  Agreed. Although it may not sound politically correct to say this, actions must be interpreted in light of the quality of the humans who performed them.
- black_puppydog 7y ago
  First, I think the argument is not against how French citizens deal with this, but how the government is pushing this stuff to begin with. Second, I'd like to agree with you, I really would. BUT: After the charlie hebdo and bataclan attacks, seeing... * completely unopposed état "d'urgence" being prolonged for TWO YEARS when the real urgency was over within a few days * the way that it was abused [1], and largely not discussed let alone really opposed in public or by my relatively tech savvy colleagues and friends in private conversation * how some of the most outrageous parts have been made into regular law now * how we still have military patrolling everywhere * bag checks at university lecture halls (seen yesterday) * the vigipirate logo (which looks like straight out of a dystopian scifi comic [2]) plastered all over town * the kindergarden on my way to work still being surrounded with concrete barriers blocking the parking, to ostensibly (and practically completely irrelevantly, given the geometry of the place) block a car from driving through the fence after all of that, I have little to no confidence that France is any less prone to a slide into totalitarianism than any other country. :( [1]: https://wiki.laquadrature.net/%C3%89tat_urgence/Recensement https://wiki.laquadrature.net/%C3%89tat_urgence/Recensement [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigipirate#/media/File:Vigipirate_2014.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigipirate#/media/File:Vigipir...
pascalmahe 7y ago
I don't know much about infosec but I know enough to see that this tool is not ready. It's really scary. Also the fact that it's not discussed much, here in France. It's the first time I've heard of it. From a country that has had a government agency for protecting digital liberties since 1978 (which made laws about what data you can and cannot keep as a software provider) it's a big change of direction.
- seszett 7y ago
  What is scary about it, though? It's really just adding a new way of authenticating on government websites. I like the idea of how it works, but I don't find it very secure, compared to Belgium's chip and pin system for example (this application is the equivalent to Belgium's itsme, which I use often enough). However it's probably the best we can do in France since we don't want to have a centralised citizens database.
  - epse 7y ago
    itsme has me really scared about it's security, especially since they are so handwavy about it. I browsed their site for a long time before enrolling, but didn't find anything useful.
    - seszett 7y ago
      What were your concerns about it?
mtrycz2 7y ago
And so... it has come to this.
cm2187 7y ago
These things always start with an innocuous purpose. The French national DNA database initially was a sexual assault database, to be able to identify rapists. Now your DNA is collected even if you are arrested in a demonstration and never charged. It is like laws. When a new law is on the table, the question is never about the reasonable use of that law, it is all about how it can be abused in the worst possible case, because that always ends up happening sooner or later.
- mytailorisrich 7y ago
  This system reads the data from your passport (which the government collected when you applied for one and stored there) and store them on your phone. Software then uses facial recognition to check that the person holding the phone matches the picture from your passport. Hardly 1984...
  - cm2187 7y ago
    If you build a system you can query for any face and get the identity, it will not take very long for someone asking for it to be used to identify violent criminals. Then terrorists at airport gates. Then demonstrators. etc.
    - seszett 7y ago
      The "system" (an NFC passport) is already used at airport gates, though. Violent criminals and demonstrators are rarely identified through their passports because these events don't make it easy to check people's passports, but ID documents are sometimes used, the photo is just checked by policemen rather than an app on the user's phone.
    - laumars 7y ago
      This app doesn't provide the government any new information (it uses ID the government already issue) nor invent any new technology (face recognition already exists). If French government - or any government for that matter - wished to do what you described then this app wouldn't be the proverbial gateway drug to that point. In fact, the entire point of passports is to identify people at airport gates and other national borders.
baybal2 7y ago
EU already have a EU-wide identity database with passport photos. This is how EU automatic border gates work.
gbersac 7y ago
Don't worry, if capgemini or accenture win the project (as they often do), the project will never work /s (but no so sarcastic either)
- ElFitz 7y ago
  Oh, Capgemini! Had to work with one of their SDKs once. Oh my. Wish I hadn't. But maybe we could suggest them to pick, say... Steria? Louvois was such a success[^1] Reminds me of https://projectfailures.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/project-from-hell/ https://projectfailures.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/project-fro... [1]: http://en.rfi.fr/africa/20140404-faulty-software-robs-french-car-troops-bonuses http://en.rfi.fr/africa/20140404-faulty-software-robs-french...
Tade0 7y ago
Why not have banks act as identity providers? We have this in Poland and it works great - as a contractor I have to send certain tax documents every month and I only ever authenticate via my bank and associated 2FA. The other method stopped working after I lost the password and discovered that reset didn't actually send an email like it should have.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- black_puppydog 7y ago
  Turns out there's no guarantee that any particular private bank has to offer you their service, so there are some people who simply don't have a bank account. If you're gonna do anything to do with official papers, you have to be at 100% (not 99.999...%) coverage. Which IMHO is just one more reason why this kind of thing is dead on arrival, given that it requires a smartphone.
starfox64_ 7y ago
It's not stated clearly in the official publication but it seems that their medium term goal, beyond using this on government websites, is to also allow private companies access to the tool. It'd be pretty useful as a way to standardize the way various companies do identity verification online. I'm honestly pleasantly surprised to see such a thing coming directly from our government, as it can be sometimes quite outdated.
mmcm 7y ago
OMG plz someone fix dat formatting. :D
mathieuh 7y ago
We have essentially the same thing in the UK, called Gov Verify. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-govuk-verify/introducing-govuk-verify https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-govuk...
k__ 7y ago
Wasn't gait recognition much better?
andrerm 7y ago
So if police or someone can get your phone they can just point the phone to your face and get access to all info ?
- yohannparis 7y ago
  No, the app just compare the face in front of the camera with the photo saved in the NFC chip in your passport. So that the government agrees that the user of the phone and the passport are the same person. Once this is done, the photo is destroyed as well as the comparaison. It's an app that does what every custom officer do when you cross a border.
neonate 7y ago
http://archive.is/ZyZOf http://archive.is/ZyZOf
BlueTemplar 7y ago
> "It took a hacker just over an hour to break into a “secure” government messaging app this year, raising concerns about the state’s security standards." Can stop reading right there, considering that the messaging app was in beta, and the fix was quickly rolled out - so everything worked as designed, for once - this is the equivalent of > "It took a hacker just over an hour to break into a computer, raising concerns about the security standards of people that use computers."

198 points by montalbano 7y ago

>France says the ID system won’t be used to keep tabs on residents. Unlike in China and Singapore, the country won’t be integrating the facial recognition biometric into citizens’ identity databases That's what they all say but once the systems exists the temptation is there to use it and each successive bunch of authoritarians will use it a little bit more. They don't even need to be more than a small minority of government to do it so long as they do it in small incremental steps (integrating it with more and more government functions).

nandipmakwana 7y ago
> That's what they all say but once the systems exists the temptation is there to use it and each successive bunch of authoritarians will use it a little bit more. Couldn't agree more. Just look at the Aadhaar system of India. As an Indian we are witnessing exact what you just said. It was created to stop leakage in Public Distribution System. But over the years it is made (not literally but still)mandatory for everywhere. If one google, they will find plenty of news where resident were denied access to basic services such as school/college admission, Hospital etc.
black_puppydog 7y ago
Don't see why this is getting downvoted. The list of examples is just too long. Germany recently changed their laws to allow easier access to registered information. It went from "we'll only use it for those pedo-bio-nuclear-terrorism cases that we keep telling you about" to "well but also for organized crime" to now supposedly "well or copyright infringement or petty theft".
conanbatt 7y ago
If it were true, they could release the system while making it illegal to be used in ANY kind of legal proceding ANY time now and in the future.

mosselman 7y ago

> Saying it wants to make the state more efficient, That is bold. Normally when governments want to destroy your privacy they claim they want to combat terrorism or something more horrible. They are going with making their processes more efficient?

baud147258 7y ago
I think the goal, as explained by other comments, is to allow to do thing remotely with your smartphone, instead of having to go to the city hall/administration building.

jacquesm 7y ago

One day we will regret this computer revolution in ways that we currently can't begin to imagine.

Ensorceled 7y ago
I would say quite a few sci-fi authors have done a good job on this ...
- lucb1e 7y ago
  My favorite author in that genre is Daniel Suarez, who makes some scarily accurate thrillers. It's not all 100% realistic, but as someone who is often annoyed at the deus ex machina[1] of other (science) fiction, this is really great. The author is a former software engineer, so I guess they know quite well how technology works in general. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina
  - Ensorceled 7y ago
    That is one of my favourites as well, World of Warcraft meets the Real World in a way that, while not necessarily believable, did not cause retinae detachment from extreme eye-rolling.
- drhodes 7y ago
  https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Butlerian_Jihad https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Butlerian_Jihad "The god of machine-logic was overthrown by the masses and a new concept was raised..."

mytailorisrich 7y ago

This is a rather poor and click-baity article. According to the French government's page on this system [1] (in French): The system is an app that generates login details to allow online access to (public?) services. You install the app on your smartphone. It uses NFC (I suppose) to read your picture (also other details?) from your passport's chip, and stores it locally on the phone. It then uses this to perform facial recognition using the phone camera in order to identify the phone's user. No biometric data leave the phone according to [1]. The stated aim is to allow people to conduct administrative tasks (forms, applications) fully online where it is not currently possible because a "hard ID check" is required. It will not be compulsory. It sounds a bit like Apple's Face ID but backed by official documents (passports) and with the government's seal of approval, some sort of passport check performed by your smartphone. [1] https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere/Alicem-la-premiere-solution-d-identite-numerique-regalienne-securisee https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere... As an aside comment, in France most people have a passport, and everyone has an ID card, which requires having photo and fingerprints taken. So this does not give the government anything that they don't already have (or could have) and it seems that they took precautions to avoid unnecessary transmissions of biometric data.

mlthoughts2018 7y ago
Until there’s a data breach or phone exploit of course. Because it certainly increases the surface area of vulnerability to such attacks.
- mytailorisrich 7y ago
  In fairness most people already have pictures of themselves on their phones, and ID pictures stored in passports can be read by anyone (who is near enough).
  - mlthoughts2018 7y ago
    So you’re telling me the possible ways to commit fraud in a system that uses NFC-like photo-to-face recognition, on device, for official document validation is even worse. It’s like installing a vinegar factory right next door to the baking soda stock yards. It seems like you meant yo suggest that since “people already have this type of data on their phones” it makes it less risky? I definitely don’t understand that.

moksly 7y ago

Android only? I’m sure it’ll get an iOS version too, but what about people who don’t have smartphones? In Denmark we’re seeing more and more public services move to Apps. It used to be that there was an offline version, like in the case of our “NemID”, but now we’re talking about digital only drivers licenses and social security cards. The private sector had long embraced mobile apps, and it’s really hard to buy tickets, do banking and so on without a smartphone, but now we’re truly locking people into their mobile devices. And these devices aren’t free, I mean, it’s not just going to be “Android” only, it’s going to be “google play” or “Apple store” only. I’m not sure that’s very democratic. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll absolutely use these things and I currently use most of the available ones with great satisfaction, but it does concern me if we’re locking public services into privately owned ecosystems.

aclelland 7y ago
The lack of iOS support may be due to the way Apple restricts the use of NFC on iOS devices[1]. This seems to be changing in iOS 13 though. [1] https://gototags.com/blog/apple-expands-nfc-on-iphone-in-ios-13/ https://gototags.com/blog/apple-expands-nfc-on-iphone-in-ios...
LeYaude 7y ago
The information at [1] (in French) clearly states that alternative methods remain available. Here is the translation of an excerpt: "Creating an Alicem account is not mandatory. Users remain free of using available alternatives: - account creation on the specific service [Translator's note: this identification method is destined at the national SSO that is only one way of logging in the various public services] - other electronic identification methods on FranceConnect [Translator's note: FranceConnect is the name of this SSO. This includes at least fiscal number + password and social security number + password and maybe other methods] - traditional physical administrative procedures" I am not necessarily a fan of this identification method and for myself I consider it less secure than a sufficiently strong, properly stored and regularly updates password. Still, the argument of locking the users or making the smartphone mandatory does not stand. As for the collected biometric data, it is collected from the passport's chip, so technically the administration is already in possession of this data, there is nothing new here. I see this as completely independent from facial recognition surveillance (hence mandatory), which in my opinion we must fight against. [1] https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere/Alicem-la-premiere-solution-d-identite-numerique-regalienne-securisee https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere...

yardie 7y ago

Can we give french citizens the benefit of the doubt here. Living there I can tell you the resident are much quicker to point out these new systems as fascist than, say, Americans. Even in Paris, the number of surveillance cameras was dramatically lower than London. The police would tout the crime fighting advantages of having these cameras in certain areas, someone would write an opinion on Nazi occupied Paris, the camera talk would go dormant for a few more years. New director arrives and wants to install cameras in certain areas...

20190820234322 7y ago
Agreed. Although it may not sound politically correct to say this, actions must be interpreted in light of the quality of the humans who performed them.
black_puppydog 7y ago
First, I think the argument is not against how French citizens deal with this, but how the government is pushing this stuff to begin with. Second, I'd like to agree with you, I really would. BUT: After the charlie hebdo and bataclan attacks, seeing... * completely unopposed état "d'urgence" being prolonged for TWO YEARS when the real urgency was over within a few days * the way that it was abused [1], and largely not discussed let alone really opposed in public or by my relatively tech savvy colleagues and friends in private conversation * how some of the most outrageous parts have been made into regular law now * how we still have military patrolling everywhere * bag checks at university lecture halls (seen yesterday) * the vigipirate logo (which looks like straight out of a dystopian scifi comic [2]) plastered all over town * the kindergarden on my way to work still being surrounded with concrete barriers blocking the parking, to ostensibly (and practically completely irrelevantly, given the geometry of the place) block a car from driving through the fence after all of that, I have little to no confidence that France is any less prone to a slide into totalitarianism than any other country. :( [1]: https://wiki.laquadrature.net/%C3%89tat_urgence/Recensement https://wiki.laquadrature.net/%C3%89tat_urgence/Recensement [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigipirate#/media/File:Vigipirate_2014.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigipirate#/media/File:Vigipir...

pascalmahe 7y ago

I don't know much about infosec but I know enough to see that this tool is not ready. It's really scary. Also the fact that it's not discussed much, here in France. It's the first time I've heard of it. From a country that has had a government agency for protecting digital liberties since 1978 (which made laws about what data you can and cannot keep as a software provider) it's a big change of direction.

seszett 7y ago
What is scary about it, though? It's really just adding a new way of authenticating on government websites. I like the idea of how it works, but I don't find it very secure, compared to Belgium's chip and pin system for example (this application is the equivalent to Belgium's itsme, which I use often enough). However it's probably the best we can do in France since we don't want to have a centralised citizens database.
- epse 7y ago
  itsme has me really scared about it's security, especially since they are so handwavy about it. I browsed their site for a long time before enrolling, but didn't find anything useful.
  - seszett 7y ago
    What were your concerns about it?

mtrycz2 7y ago

And so... it has come to this.

cm2187 7y ago

These things always start with an innocuous purpose. The French national DNA database initially was a sexual assault database, to be able to identify rapists. Now your DNA is collected even if you are arrested in a demonstration and never charged. It is like laws. When a new law is on the table, the question is never about the reasonable use of that law, it is all about how it can be abused in the worst possible case, because that always ends up happening sooner or later.

mytailorisrich 7y ago
This system reads the data from your passport (which the government collected when you applied for one and stored there) and store them on your phone. Software then uses facial recognition to check that the person holding the phone matches the picture from your passport. Hardly 1984...
- cm2187 7y ago
  If you build a system you can query for any face and get the identity, it will not take very long for someone asking for it to be used to identify violent criminals. Then terrorists at airport gates. Then demonstrators. etc.
  - seszett 7y ago
    The "system" (an NFC passport) is already used at airport gates, though. Violent criminals and demonstrators are rarely identified through their passports because these events don't make it easy to check people's passports, but ID documents are sometimes used, the photo is just checked by policemen rather than an app on the user's phone.
  - laumars 7y ago
    This app doesn't provide the government any new information (it uses ID the government already issue) nor invent any new technology (face recognition already exists). If French government - or any government for that matter - wished to do what you described then this app wouldn't be the proverbial gateway drug to that point. In fact, the entire point of passports is to identify people at airport gates and other national borders.

baybal2 7y ago

EU already have a EU-wide identity database with passport photos. This is how EU automatic border gates work.

gbersac 7y ago

Don't worry, if capgemini or accenture win the project (as they often do), the project will never work /s (but no so sarcastic either)

ElFitz 7y ago
Oh, Capgemini! Had to work with one of their SDKs once. Oh my. Wish I hadn't. But maybe we could suggest them to pick, say... Steria? Louvois was such a success[^1] Reminds me of https://projectfailures.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/project-from-hell/ https://projectfailures.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/project-fro... [1]: http://en.rfi.fr/africa/20140404-faulty-software-robs-french-car-troops-bonuses http://en.rfi.fr/africa/20140404-faulty-software-robs-french...

Tade0 7y ago

Why not have banks act as identity providers? We have this in Poland and it works great - as a contractor I have to send certain tax documents every month and I only ever authenticate via my bank and associated 2FA. The other method stopped working after I lost the password and discovered that reset didn't actually send an email like it should have.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
black_puppydog 7y ago
Turns out there's no guarantee that any particular private bank has to offer you their service, so there are some people who simply don't have a bank account. If you're gonna do anything to do with official papers, you have to be at 100% (not 99.999...%) coverage. Which IMHO is just one more reason why this kind of thing is dead on arrival, given that it requires a smartphone.

starfox64_ 7y ago

It's not stated clearly in the official publication but it seems that their medium term goal, beyond using this on government websites, is to also allow private companies access to the tool. It'd be pretty useful as a way to standardize the way various companies do identity verification online. I'm honestly pleasantly surprised to see such a thing coming directly from our government, as it can be sometimes quite outdated.

mmcm 7y ago

OMG plz someone fix dat formatting. :D

mathieuh 7y ago

We have essentially the same thing in the UK, called Gov Verify. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-govuk-verify/introducing-govuk-verify https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-govuk...

k__ 7y ago

Wasn't gait recognition much better?

andrerm 7y ago

So if police or someone can get your phone they can just point the phone to your face and get access to all info ?

yohannparis 7y ago
No, the app just compare the face in front of the camera with the photo saved in the NFC chip in your passport. So that the government agrees that the user of the phone and the passport are the same person. Once this is done, the photo is destroyed as well as the comparaison. It's an app that does what every custom officer do when you cross a border.

neonate 7y ago

http://archive.is/ZyZOf http://archive.is/ZyZOf

BlueTemplar 7y ago

> "It took a hacker just over an hour to break into a “secure” government messaging app this year, raising concerns about the state’s security standards." Can stop reading right there, considering that the messaging app was in beta, and the fix was quickly rolled out - so everything worked as designed, for once - this is the equivalent of > "It took a hacker just over an hour to break into a computer, raising concerns about the security standards of people that use computers."