How Norway plans to tackle foreigners’ issues with digital IDs
Electronic IDs are a big part of everyday life in Norway. The system can cause some problems for foreigners, and the government has told The Local that it has a plan to address the issues.
For around 20 years, electronic IDs have been used for everything from filing taxes to filling out forms and doing online banking.
In a recent survey of our audience, many readers agreed that the system was simple, efficient, and helpful when you could obtain an electronic ID. Still, there were some issues, such as the rules for who can have one being unclear for certain types—like BankID.
READ MORE: ‘It’s not easy to live in Norway without an electronic ID’
Other issues include different electronic IDs having different security clearances, with foreign residents typically unable to access the digital logins with a higher security rating if they had a d-number rather than a “birth number”.
The ministry responsible for digital IDs, the Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance, has told The Local it was aware of the issues some foreigners have had with digital IDs.
“I am indeed aware of the issues surrounding the acquisition of BankID and the challenges that may arise when it comes to certain services that require a high security level. The government is committed to improving access to digital public services for all citizens,” state secretary Thomas Norvoll told The Local.
When asked by The Local what could be improved about electronic IDs, many foreigners said they simply wanted the rules on who could obtain certain kinds of digital logins, such as BankID, to be much clearer.
“For new foreigners, there should be a clear and easy process to follow,” Arjen in Jessheim wrote.
The government told The Local that it had an action plan in place as part of a wider strategy on electronic IDs to make them easier to obtain and clear up the rules on who can have them.
“The action plan includes measures to investigate how eID with a high-security level can be made available to more users, assessing how eID can be distributed safely among user groups that currently do not have an eID at a high security level today, and measures to ensure that all user groups shall be knowledgeable about how to obtain and use an eID in a secure manner,” Norvoll said.
The action plan has been published by the digitisation ministry and is available in Norwegian on the ministry’s website (in Norwegian).
Among the seven measures is an investigation into how user-friendly electronic IDs can be obtained for users without a d-number of birth number. Norway’s immigration Directorate (UDI) is among the services included in this review.
This review would take place between 2024 and 2025, but the bad news is that any changes as a result of the review may not be implemented until 2026-2027.
The action plan also outlined the government had begun measures to make sure electronic IDs with a high security level are available to more people and that this work would continue until 2026.
The measure that will see electronic ID users given more information on how to obtain one would be in an analysis stage throughout 2024, with input from entities that issue the digital IDs before the results of the investigation are implemented in 2025 and 2026.
At the time of writing, more specific details on how the information would be made clearer or how exactly electronic IDs would be made more accessible were not available.
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For around 20 years, electronic IDs have been used for everything from filing taxes to filling out forms and doing online banking.
In a recent survey of our audience, many readers agreed that the system was simple, efficient, and helpful when you could obtain an electronic ID. Still, there were some issues, such as the rules for who can have one being unclear for certain types—like BankID.
READ MORE: ‘It’s not easy to live in Norway without an electronic ID’
Other issues include different electronic IDs having different security clearances, with foreign residents typically unable to access the digital logins with a higher security rating if they had a d-number rather than a “birth number”.
The ministry responsible for digital IDs, the Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance, has told The Local it was aware of the issues some foreigners have had with digital IDs.
“I am indeed aware of the issues surrounding the acquisition of BankID and the challenges that may arise when it comes to certain services that require a high security level. The government is committed to improving access to digital public services for all citizens,” state secretary Thomas Norvoll told The Local.
When asked by The Local what could be improved about electronic IDs, many foreigners said they simply wanted the rules on who could obtain certain kinds of digital logins, such as BankID, to be much clearer.
“For new foreigners, there should be a clear and easy process to follow,” Arjen in Jessheim wrote.
The government told The Local that it had an action plan in place as part of a wider strategy on electronic IDs to make them easier to obtain and clear up the rules on who can have them.
“The action plan includes measures to investigate how eID with a high-security level can be made available to more users, assessing how eID can be distributed safely among user groups that currently do not have an eID at a high security level today, and measures to ensure that all user groups shall be knowledgeable about how to obtain and use an eID in a secure manner,” Norvoll said.
The action plan has been published by the digitisation ministry and is available in Norwegian on the ministry’s website (in Norwegian).
Among the seven measures is an investigation into how user-friendly electronic IDs can be obtained for users without a d-number of birth number. Norway’s immigration Directorate (UDI) is among the services included in this review.
This review would take place between 2024 and 2025, but the bad news is that any changes as a result of the review may not be implemented until 2026-2027.
The action plan also outlined the government had begun measures to make sure electronic IDs with a high security level are available to more people and that this work would continue until 2026.
The measure that will see electronic ID users given more information on how to obtain one would be in an analysis stage throughout 2024, with input from entities that issue the digital IDs before the results of the investigation are implemented in 2025 and 2026.
At the time of writing, more specific details on how the information would be made clearer or how exactly electronic IDs would be made more accessible were not available.
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