Yohann Tritz, edited by Gauthier Delomez 07:03, April 29, 2022

The government is preparing to launch a new application for smartphones to scan its identity card.

A new tool, optional, which should simplify certain procedures and should be available in mid-May.

Its aim will also be to limit fraud on the internet, as a specialist explains to Europe 1.

Less than 48 hours after Emmanuel Macron's re-election for a second term, the government decreed the creation of a new digital identity application called "Identity Guarantee Service", says SGIN.

This tool takes over from Alicem, the previous project abandoned following an unfavorable opinion from the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (Cnil).

In question, facial recognition, this time abandoned. 

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Only people in possession of the new biometric identity card will be able to use this application.

More than four million French people own it today.

All you have to do is scan it with your phone with the NFC chip, the technology that already allows you to put your bank card on our smartphones.

The following data will then be stored: surname, first name, date of birth, passport photo, postal address and email address.

There will, however, be no fingerprints.

Limit online fraud

This optional tool will not replace the identity card in the event of an inspection, but it will make it possible to provide proof of identity or even to give a power of attorney more quickly.

The goal is also to limit fraud on the internet, explains Mathias Moulin, secretary general of the Cnil.

"This will strengthen the level of security as part of an online authentication process, on services offered either by the administration, or by companies affiliated with an agreement with France Connect or the Ministry of the Interior" , he says at the microphone of Europe 1.

A way also to be able to officially prove your age on sites prohibited to minors.

Pornographic sites are particularly targeted.

The application will evolve over time.

The trial version is expected to be released in mid-May, the government said.