MUNICH, Germany — For online transactions, NFC could be the missing link between an electronic proof of identity and the web. Bundesdruckerei now presses ahead to adapt NFC to existing electronic passport technologies.

Electronic ID cards are ideally suited as a proof of identity for electronic commerce applications. So far, this is consensus among many e-commerce participants. The question is how the content of the identity document can be transferred into the internet. NFC would be the technology of choice. Now Bundesdruckerei GmbH (Berlin) has joined the NFC forum to foster the development of reader devices embedded in mobile handsets as missing link between the electronic version of the ID card and the internet.

Equipped with a high-security smart card chip, electronic identity documents could help to make online transactions much more secure, Bundesdruckerei believes. The stumbling block hitherto is the read-out device that brings the keys and signatures into the web. While contactless readers for home use are under development, Bundesdruckerei believes that NFC technology which will be integrated into many next-generation mobile handsets could be the best way to achieve the connection.

"We believe that the use of an NFC-compliant mobile phone as a reading device would provide an uncomplicated way of bridging the current gap between electronic ID cards and secure internet transaction", said Ulrich Hamann, CEO of Bundesdruckerei. The reason, according to Hamann, is that such mobile handsets are to be expected in widespread use anyway. This would render the acquisition of a special-purpose reading device unnecessary.

For this reason Bundesdruckerei will see to it that the NFC technology is made compliant with ISO standard 14443 which already is the accepted international standard for electronic identity documents. The company aims at making every NFC-equipped handset capable of reading digital documents.

Bundesdruckerei, the company with the unpronounceable name, used to be a German government agency. Bundesdruckerei means 'Federal printing agency', and as such, the agency used to print banknotes, passports and similar documents. Since its privatization in the year 2000, the company specializes in identification and high-security technology including related hardware and software solutions. Currently owned by law firm Clifford Chance and a Frankfurt-based consultancy, the German government is in the process of buying its former agency back.

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