Identity-Establishing Work

As a technology venture of the German federal government, Bundesdruckerei in Berlin produces all German passport and ID documents on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI). This includes the complete process from the collection and processing of personal data, the production and personalization of the identity documents, to their verification and protection. Security, authenticity and credibility are our top priorities – to ensure that they are met, different systems must reliably intertwine. Not only that: System integration that brings together individual technologies, processes and solutions is absolutely essential for us.

Depending on the type of document, the municipal authorities (or Bürgerämter) first use standard procedures to digitally capture the applicants’ biographical and biometric data, such as name, date of birth, signature or fingerprint. This data is then digitally encrypted and signed before being forwarded to us for processing. We use a public key infrastructure (PKI) to ensure that only persons and devices that are integrated into the system have access to it and can process the data. This is how we ensure that only authentic data is used in the next process steps.

We use state-of-the-art systems with the latest technologies to produce the physical documents, in order to meet the highest standards in terms of design and protection against forgery. We develop many of the technologies and manufacturing processes entirely in-house with our experts, for example in the areas of laser personalization or holography. Custom-built machines developed in-house are used for some of these processes to ensure that official documents are manufactured in a copy-proof way. We use conventional roll-to-roll printing processes as well, but these also involve the processing of security papers and inks with special machines. When manufacturing our polycarbonate cards for ID cards, driver’s licenses and passports, we are printing on a special polycarbonate film in a single production step using inkjet technology that we developed and patented. The personal data of the respective applicant is printed on the film, making each ID document unique. In the subsequent process steps, the individualized document undergoes additional patented personalization mechanisms, using special customized machines. In order to personalize each document – visually as well as electronically – we are operating one of the world’s largest specialized processing facilities, applying security features such as the portrait photo, fingerprint, a chip, and a hologram using holographic printing processes and laser technologies. Encodings and barcodes additionally make the documents machine-readable, so they can be tracked or authenticated at any time, i.e. at every step of the production process, using so-called track-and-trace systems.

This enables us to achieve custom manufacturing with batch size of one, but in very large quantities and with very short cycle times, so that we can meet the needs of around 80 million citizens. From the moment the data is provided to us, it normally only takes a few days to produce these fully personalized official ID documents.

To keep the entire process as straightforward and as fast as possible for citizens, we are increasingly working on so-called live-enrolment systems and processes such as direct mailing. One example are the self-service terminals for municipal authorities, allowing citizens to apply for ID documents and driving licenses without assistance. Biometric photos, fingerprints and signatures are captured directly at the device and transmitted to the digital government network in a seamless and quality-assured manner. Other citizen services can also be provided at this type of self-service terminals. This would relieve administrative staff of routine tasks in the application process and shorten waiting times for the applicant. Accessible desktop solutions, including for people with special needs, are also under development.