What is and what is the digital ID that comes into effect this Tuesday in Colombia

This Tuesday begins a new stage in terms of identification for Colombians: the new digital ID will be released in the history of the country. According to Tic Minister Karen Abudinen, This advance wants to modernize Colombia and allow it to carry out processes through mobile and electronic devices in an easier and simpler way.

It is expected that tomorrow Monday night, President Iván Duque and Minister Abudinen, in the company of the National Registrar, Alexánder Vega ‘will cut the ribbon’ and the digital ID that will come into effect as of December 1 is formally presented to the Colombian population.

The national registrar assured that this method will make life easier for Colombians and avoid difficult face-to-face procedures. But nevertheless, The Registrar’s Office makes it clear that the digital ID does not replace physical plastic and that it will only be for citizens who want to have it.

“This system will allow to store important information of the citizen, such as their digital certificate to authenticate: the identity or biometric template of the fingerprint, the photograph of the person, the digitized image of the handwritten signature or the corresponding affiliation data, as well as, in the future, documents such as electronic medical records, among others, ”Héctor José García, director of the ICT Observatory of the Javeriana University, told Dinero Magazine .

What is the digital ID for?

Among the virtues of the new document is the possibility of carrying out online procedures through the mobile device enabled for this purpose. The digital card will also allow online voting, a controversial section within the electoral reform project.

Security: key element for the digital ID

The ID will be multipurpose, so maintain a high standard that prevents forgery, alteration, manipulation, impersonation, It is a priority for the National Registry.

Encryption mechanisms will prevent forgery or adulteration, as well as facilitate identity authentication through biometrics.

The new ID will have two formats: digital, on smartphone devices; physical, customized in polycarbonate.

Goodbye chip, hello QR

Due to technical inconveniences related to the support technology necessary to run the chip, the Registrar’s Office chose to use the QR code, more versatile and secure for the purposes of this document.

The QR facilitates validation through smart devices. It has a plus: the MRZ code (Mechanical Reading Zone or Must-Readable Zone by its English name) that will allow the new ID to be used as a travel document. The Registrar’s Office affirms that the use of the codes facilitates interoperability between documents and citizens on the network.

The controversial electronic vote

For the Registrar, there are two major categories of vote in its bill.: face-to-face and not face-to-faceFurthermore, the implementation of a system of this type must guarantee manual / traditional and electronic options. But nevertheless, said implementation will be gradual, with pilot plans that aim to test technologies and voter behaviors.

As regards the new ID, remote electronic type votes, that is, they are those issued outside a voting station and exercised through an electronic means, and the remote electronic advance votes, deposited prior to the date of the corresponding electoral event, through the electronic mechanism that is available, will be tested in a pilot plan with Colombians residing abroad.

Assisted technologies will be implemented for this type of voting in 2022, without meaning abrupt changes in the electoral system. But nevertheless, 2026 It is in the sights as the year in which a fundamental change can be made to said system by implementing electronic and remote votes, tested with fellow citizens living abroad.

Costs and availability

The new digital ID will include biographical data such as document number, names, surnames, place and date of issue, place and date of birth, sex, photograph and signature. Initially, it will be addressed to those who voluntarily request it through the duplication mechanism. The cost will not exceed the current value of the yellow hologram ID, which is $ 46,100. The first digital cards will be available from December 2020.