M2M Innovation World Congress, Nice, France & Neubiberg, Germany – Security chips for the new electronic driving (eDriver) licence issued in France from this month, are being supplied by Infineon Technologies. The new polycarbonate smart card replacing the traditional paper document contains an embedded SLE78 microprocessor with ‘Integrity Guard’.
The microprocessor securely stores the licence holder’s biometric and personal data protecting his or her identity while helping to reduce fraud. Secure authentication of the eDriver license, will also help the police to increase safety on the street: a major issue in France, where up to 10% of driving licences in circulation are believed to be counterfeit. (Source: « L’usurpation d’Identité » Guy de Felcourt, CNRS éditions – July 2011.)
Standardised driving licenses in credit card format will become mandatory across Europe from 2033. Currently, there are 110 different versions, formats and security levels in circulation. France, one of Europe’s most populous states with approximately 65 million citizens, is a forerunner in issuing electronic driving licenses and residence permits according to the latest EU standards. The eDriver licence is also used as an identification document and must be updated every 15 years. It will be produced by the Imprimerie Nationale, the state printer in France.
Beside electronic passports, IDs and electronic residence permits, the electronic driving license is another example for the introduction of harmonized, electronic identification documents within the European Union, which is particularly driven by the European Commission’s Digital Agenda.
Security chips based on the digital security technology ‘Integrity Guard’ aim to offer the highest level of protection against data manipulation currently available. The ID document holder’s personal data are not only stored in encrypted form on the security chip, but also processed in encrypted form. In addition, the SLE 78 security controllers with their 16-bit architecture provide better computing performance, which results in faster processing for citizens when they cross borders.
Based on its core competences in security, contactless communication and integrated microcontroller solutions (embedded control), Infineon offers a portfolio of semiconductor-based security products for many chip card and security applications. With this expertise, Infineon is helping to increase security in an increasingly networked world, for example for mobile payment, system security and secure electronic ID documents.
In the 2012 fiscal year (ending September 30), Infineon Technologies AG reported sales of Euro 3.9 billion with close to 26,700 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the over-the-counter market OTCQX International Premier (ticker symbol: IFNNY).