Sweden is one of the leading investors in e-government services. More than two million people recently used the internet, SMS or fixed phones to file their taxes. Soon, it might be possible to use the mobile phone for identification and for signing transactions.
Several Swedish banks and operators and have agreed on a common standard for e-identification through the mobile phone SIM-card.
And the number of people in Sweden who filed taxes electronically this year was double last year's figure. Out of 6.1 million taxpayers, 2.1 million chose to do it over the internet, SMS or fixed phones.
Today, the bank association Swedish BankID offers several solutions for identification over the internet, which are all built on the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). The offer includes a software certification which is downloadable to the hard drive, smart cards and Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) cards. Over 500,000 people downloaded the software certification for signing their tax return this year.
This e-identification also enables people to view their tax account, handle parental leave issues, apply for different permissions, sign reservations or register enterprises.
Several Swedish banks and operators are now taking the identification process one step further and have agreed on a common standard for e-identification through the mobile phone SIM-card.
Sverker Arvidson, research responsible at BankID, says it will enable mobile phones to be used as a secure identification device for a range of services; for example, bank transactions, tax returns or even voting at general elections.
"When we started the project our vision was to develop an open standard that enables people to use their SIM-card as an ID card," Arvidson says. "For example, if you are in an internet café or traveling with your laptop, it will enable services that require user identification, such as bank transactions. The user will be able to log in and sign transactions or application forms through the SIM-cards. It also opens up new opportunities for mobile application developers to create services that suit the mobile phone."
Behind the open standard are eight Swedish banks, through the organization BankID, and Swedish operator Telia Sonera, Tele 2 and Vodafone, as well as Ericsson. Together they have formed the organization WPKI. Arvidson says the first step has been taken and all documentation for the open standard is now available at the organization's home page.
"The use of BankID's current solutions has increased dramatically, which shows that people trust it and regard it as a convenient and secure way of handling all kinds of transactions. With the new SIM-card solution, we will introduce an even more secure and flexible solution."
The new solution will not require any extra effort from the user, apart from activating the identification function in the SIM-card. It will be available in the same way as SIM-cards are today.
The different players behind the project will now decide how the different costs and incomes should be divided. A trial system has already been developed and it is hoped that live tests will start during 2006.
"This kind of solution suits the mobile phone perfectly," Arvidson says. "But it must work regardless of which operator you are using. Therefore, it is important that the specification is open to the public. By publishing it on the internet, no one can claim exclusive rights for them, which is important for spreading it."
