from the all-the-eggs-in-one-basket dept.
Estonia will become the first country in the world to offer “e-residency” for foreigners. So what does this mean and how does it work?
Basically e-residency means a state-sanctioned authentication process. According to the article, “The card is an opportunity for people whose country of residence does not offer them a strong digital identity." It is especially useful for entrepreneurs and others who already have some relationship to Estonia. The e-residency project builds on top of the existing Estonian national ID card infrastructure, which is already widely used in Estonia. Each e-resident will get an electronic card similar to the Estonian ID card, though without a photo or fingerprints as these cards are meant for electronic use only. The card can be used for accessing a multitude of public and private electronic services which require authentication, like online banking or founding a company in Estonia. Some services extend the borders of Estonia, for example digital signatures will be legally valid in the whole European Union.
The card can be used from all over the world, but the applicant must be physically present in Estonia at least once, to verify his or her identity. There are also background checks involved and the authorities can cancel the e-residency at any moment without explanations if there is a suspicion of fraud. This seems reasonable as carrying out any investigations in foreign countries would be next to impossible.
Issuing the e-resident digital identity will start by the end of 2014.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 26 2014, @05:26PM
Now a days ID cars should be equipped with some small prongs attached to the card that you simply stick on a scanner and it has high, digitally signed, resolution of the person's pictures (from different angles), name, height, and other information (and of course the keys should have expiration dates and the government should create new keys every once in a while). These things are dirt cheap. Heck, the cost of a 16 - 32 Gb microSD card is (or was) $2 to $4 (don't confuse cost with price, I know the cost). These things are dirt cheap and an ID card can easily have a readable chip with lots of data on it.
(Score: 2) by Daiv on Wednesday November 26 2014, @06:52PM
Says the Anonymous Coward
(Score: 2) by CRCulver on Wednesday November 26 2014, @08:35PM
While storage might be dirt cheap, making a durable plug might prove a considerable expense. I don't think you really understand how much abuse ID documents are subject to. My passport might have a biometic chip in it somewhere, but it's become discoloured (and possibly a little moldy) due to sweat (passports are often carried in round-the-neck pouches on blistering hot days) and the image on the front cover has become almost entirely effaced. If it had any external contacts, I'm sure they would have become damaged within weeks of issuance. Already it's fairly common across the consumer population for the chips on bank cards to become smuged and dirty, and it's impossible to get it to register in payment terminals, why face the same frustration with government ID?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @08:31AM
Ummm, an ID card already has your picture and basic info on it. Why would you need to store that inside a chip of any kind?
Anyway, Estonian id cards already have a chip with your encryption certificates on it which you can renew anytime you want and the keys can be changed anytime as well. There are 2 keys, one to login to things and another to add your signature to things. Everything is obviously done online or through their software, no need to actually get out of your basement. Oh and if you use a card reader, you can pull the picture and basic info from the card already - no need for gigs of storage on the thing itself.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 26 2014, @05:31PM
Gotta ramp it up to keep up with the Irelands, Lichtensteins, etc., in the world.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday November 26 2014, @07:45PM
It's a beautifully simple system, but by heck you pay for it: http://news.err.ee/v/economy/8a41fa7d-c31c-4129-9453-109e65c81343
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by hubie on Wednesday November 26 2014, @10:19PM
Is that true at the corporate level? Often a company sets up in a country like the Bahamas or apparently Ireland not to avoid paying taxes, but to avoid paying US or some other country's higher business taxes. I didn't think that was necessarily the same with personal taxes.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday November 27 2014, @06:22PM
If it's about personal tax, then our personal taxes are also high. There's no way that Estonia is a tax haven.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by stroucki on Wednesday November 26 2014, @07:20PM
Multipass!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Wednesday November 26 2014, @07:21PM
Maybe Estonia will be the worlds first FOQNE instead of Hong Kong (Gotta read some Stephenson to make sense of that)
(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday November 27 2014, @06:55AM
The write up sounds laudatory, fawning even.
Had the story been about the US, (which has ad digital IDs for tax purposes for many years), the tone of the article would be dramatically different.
Just sayin...
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 27 2014, @05:54PM
So much this. Why do I want an ID card with the Police and Border Guard Office of a former Soviet state that's now a NATO member? Would I want a US- or UK-generated ID, and would I want to give up biometric data to get one? From the Estonian website's "e-pamphlet":
So, I travel to Estonia (or, eventually, one of their embassies) to give my fingerprints (straight to some NATO partner's database) in exchange for, basically, an Estonian digital cert? If someone suggested that I give my fingerprints to the GHCQ/NSA in exchange for an SSL cert, I'd laugh at them. Why should I take the Estonian deal seriously?
(Score: 1) by babywombat on Thursday November 27 2014, @11:05PM
Why should I take the Estonian deal seriously?
You may find it comfortable if you want to access any services which are available this way, it's just so simple. And rest assured the 3-letter agencies most probably already have your fingerprints. The problem that agencies illegally collect and abuse personal information is a legal/social one and cannot be solved by technical means like hiding your fingerprints.
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Wednesday December 03 2014, @11:30AM
Hmm since in context the “it's just so simple” contains the same kind of obfuscated, perverse, and duplicitous insult it might be a good replacement for the old and outdated arbeit macht frei [wikipedia.org].
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 1) by SacredSalt on Thursday November 27 2014, @05:26PM
All I could think was estonia was trying to corner the market on internet porn, sites that often devolve into porn such as chaturbate (ugh!), child porn (age of consent is 14 is Estonia - but I'm not sure about entering into contracts for porn distribution), and for a few US businesses that have the components of their products made in China --- and have the Chinese maker deal with RoHS for them -- and want access to the EU market by having the final assembly done somewhere cheap (this might actually lead to distribution or fulfillment centers being setup in Estonia and create a few jobs.). If trends hold, it wont be long before Slovakia offers something similar as they bend over backwards to try to get fulfillment centers and final assembly sites created there, but they still have some bumps the road for an individual to get through this process.
I don't think there is going to be any mad rush to get these Estonian ID cards, but for some smaller companies its certainly an easier way to get your foot in the EU door than say France or Germany. If I ever finish up the final design of my TIMINATOR amplifier and transfer it over to modern surface mount style construction (though a few components would still be hand work or hole through) this process may be easier to deal with the EU's insanely difficult to certify RoHS compliance -- and would allow my amplifiers to be sold competitively in Europe as well as America. Not that I think the market for a 1/6w - 4w power scaling Tweed Deluxe style amp with real tube driven spring reverb and bias vary tremolo is terribly huge (although it is what most players really want -- they just don't know it yet), but it is an interesting thought that is worth looking into it.
I'm not sure how making my own line of amplifiers would impact my ability to do warranty work for much larger companies -- and I better look into that as well before I leap. There is at least one other local person doing something similar, but he only fixes vintage tube amplifiers and his line of decent (Reason amplifiers) amps may be the reason behind it - or it just may be that he doesn't like working on the newer stuff and grappling with the unique problems that creates.
The EU RoHS process is a serious PITA to deal with for a smaller American builder (and I think its intended to be). I've had a few conversations with the owner of Aiken Amplifiers (very nice guy), and the main reason he still isn't producing the wonderful boutique amplifiers he is known for (even though every single part is certified hazardous material free and his soldering process is also hazardous materials free -- which was not cheap to redesign) is the EU requirement to have every single part crushed up into bits, and analyzed by one of their labs for certification. This is a very expensive proposition for a small company. My personal thought is he should sell in America until he gets the certification complete, and let demand build for something they can't have!). This issue may get settled by the WTO -- as its a little ludicrous when every single part that goes into it is already for sale in EU countries ...) Bringing lawsuits for unfair trade practices also cost a lot of money.