Gothaer Allgemeine Versicherung is the first company in Germany to be officially authorised by the Federal Administration Office (BVA) to use electronic proof of ID. At the same time, the company opted for the eID Service and authorisation certificates from Bundesdruckerei GmbH for the new online authentication function.

The new German ID card launched on 1 November 2010 comes with an additional electronic ID function which allows citizens, companies and public agencies to prove their identity on the Internet in a reliable manner.

Bundesdruckerei is supporting Gothaer Allgemeine Versicherung in its endeavours to use this innovation in its business processes. Based on the approval recently issued by BVA, Bundesdruckerei will now issue the insurance company with the necessary authorisation certificates that serve as electronic service provider ID. These certificates authorise the insurance company to read out personal data from the new ID card on condition that the customer has given his consent.

Bundesdruckerei’s eID Service ensures secure communication during the exchange of data. This eID Service runs in the background and assumes the role of a trustworthy mediator between the online service provider and the user. It also ensures that all the data is encrypted and signed for transmission and that the user and the service provider can at all times be identified without any doubt according to the principle of mutual authentication.

Gothaer believes that electronic proof of ID has a lot to offer. “As a participant in the centrally co-ordinated application test for the German national ID card, we have already been working hand-in-hand with Bundesdruckerei and have come to appreciate the company as a competent partner,” says project manager Eric Wiedemann from sales management at Gothaer. “That’s why we are also relying on Bundesdruckerei’s eID Service for real-time operations.” Gothaer customers will soon be able to use their new ID cards in order to enter into online contracts or to request preliminary insurance confirmation.

Ulrich Hamann, CEO of Bundesdruckerei GmbH, is convinced: “This and many other forms of co-operation in the context our new eID Service will allow citizens to rely on improved identity protection and comprehensively verified service provider data. This marks a huge step towards secure identities.”