The European eID: Lots of Cards - Very Little Usage

[Anders Rundgren]

Although tenths of millions of eIDs have been issued in Europe, usage is after a decade still very limited.
Why?� Of course there are multiple reasons like:

• Governments tend to measure success in terms of issued cards
• Card readers remain an esoteric single-use option
• There a many different cards and middleware is by no means a solved issue
  
• The eID cards are seldom augmentable with additional credentials
• Even if you could add credentials to a card there is still no software available to do it over the web
  
• Providers like banks do not generally accept electronic credentials issued by other parties
  

That is, chasing these guys like the U-prove team is reportedly is doing isn't going anywhere.� Governments may sure be interested but their identity platforms are in fact not suitable for ubiquitous Internet usage.

The only way you can ever get anything beyond passwords flying is to either abandon the PC as a vehicle for secure services (iPhone is so much simpler), or creating a new infrastructure that is designed for easy deployment and universality rather than for gaining political points.

Anders