Interview: AusweisApp2, our Digital Trust Hero in July!
Hooray, we are proud to introduce our next Digital Trust Hero: Governikus with the AusweisApp2!
The AusweisApp2 is a free application software that enables electronic authentication via the Internet with the online ID function of the ID card, electronic residence permit and the eID card.
The AusweisApp2 makes it possible to identify oneself online, take care of official business digitally, or even open a bank account. The chip in the ID card always verifies the identity of the party requesting the personal data.
In our interview today we have: Dr. Stephan Klein, Managing Director of Governikus.
Hi Stephan! Why don’t you start by telling us 3 facts about your professional career so far?
One thing first: Even though I was on board as Managing Director from the beginning, Governikus was founded by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen in 1999 as a public-private partnership. After an apprenticeship as a banker, I studied business administration and did my doctorate in the field of technology genesis research on the emergence of the electronic cash system of the German banking industry. Afterwards I worked in the consulting industry for a couple of years before I came to Bremen in 1999 to build up Governikus. Back then we started with a handful of people, today we have over 200 employees in Bremen, Berlin, Erfurt and Cologne.
What inspired you to found Governikus?
At the time, Bremen had taken part in a city competition organized by the German Government (MEDIA@Komm). The goal of the city competition was to develop secure, legally binding and confidential communication, based on electronic signatures, among other things. Bremen emerged as one of three winners from the competition and used the funding it won to set up a company to implement the submitted concept. The basic idea of protecting personal data and the associated digital self-determination excited me from the very beginning — and that hasn’t changed to this day. The infrastructure that was created back then is still the basis for data exchange with and within the administration and judiciary today — naturally with the latest adjustments and with continuous further development.
How did AusweisApp2 come about?
Based on secure communication, which also takes place vis-à-vis online portals, the topic of secure electronic identities became increasingly important over time. At Governikus, we already dealt with this issue intensively in the 2000s. When the German government created a sovereign, secure identity with the online ID card at the end of 2010, we naturally provided the corresponding software, initially focusing on the server area. Starting in 2014, we also provided the corresponding client as a successor product to the first ID card app on behalf of the Federal Government. That was probably the first agile project implemented by the Federal Government. At the time, we had just 11 months after the order was placed to develop the AusweisApp2 from scratch and then also to have it certified during development. This would never have worked with conventional project management methods. The Federal Government got involved and so, together with the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), we had monthly so-called sprint meetings to coordinate the incremental and iterative development of the software. That was a great experience — and that’s how we continue to work with BMI and BSI to this day, albeit at a less frequent pace.
What advantage does the AusweisApp2 offer the user?
The AusweisApp2 is the client that users need in order to use their online ID card. On the one hand, the app enables secure transmission of the data stored on the chip of the ID card (or electronic residence permit or, since this year, the so-called Union eID card) — after prior approval by the user’s own PIN and only then. On the other hand, the ID card app2 also shows me who wants which credentials of my data, for what purpose, and whether the other party has valid authorization to do so. This is because a provider can only receive data if it has authorization from the Federal Office of Administration. Behind this is a rather elaborate, because secure, construct with a complex infrastructure, which of course also takes blocking lists, etc., into account. In the future, the ID card app2 will also make it possible to store the online ID card data on a secure element of the smartphone. Then users won’t have to hold their card up to the device every time, which will be even more convenient. Now that the smart eID law has just been passed, we’re already working hard on it.
Why do you think it’s important to deal with the issue of data protection? What is particularly important to you when dealing with sensitive data?
Data is the new oil. I didn’t say that, but I can only confirm it. In the course of digitalization, a huge amount of data is produced and, of course, exchanged. If you look at the latest statistics on cybercrime — whether identity theft or industrial espionage, etc. — it is essential to protect data. And personal data at that! This data must be protected and all means must be used to prevent it from being intercepted or falsified.
What is your recommendation to our followers? What simple tips can they use to better protect their data?
Encrypt, encrypt, encrypt … That’s what happens with online ID card data, too. In the end, the AusweisApp2 also ensures that the data from the chip is transferred via a secure encrypted channel. If you want to encrypt documents and mail traffic, you can do this with an S/MIME or PGP certificate, for example. This not only ensures that the data has not been tampered with en route, but — depending on the certificate level — also makes it possible to be sure who I am actually communicating with. The online ID card can help here, too. On behalf of the BSI, we have provided a service that allows me to virtually sign a PGP key with my ID card. The service is available free of charge at www.pgp.governikus.de.
And last but not least, our popular final question: If you could spend an evening with one famous person, who would it be and why?
Unfortunately, he is no longer alive: Peter Benenson founded the human rights organization Amnesty International in 1961, the year I was born, and I have supported it for many years — with money and some involvement. I would like to talk to him about the current situation of human rights in many countries of the world and the trend towards more autocracy in Europe as well, and how the Internet has changed the work of amnesty.
Thank you very much for the interesting interview, Stephan!
With our monthly series “Digital Trust Heroes”, we want to give innovative and privacy-oriented startups and companies a digital stage to help present their vision, their project and the people behind it and make them more visible.
Our focus is clearly on companies that, like us, deal with topics such as data protection, data security, digital identity and the secure handling of personal data and want to make the digital world a little bit better.
Our goal is to create a trustworthy ecosystem of pan-European “Digital Trust Heroes” who want to enable people to live a comfortable and secure life on the Internet.
Learn more about our July 2021 Digital Trust Hero, the AusweisApp2 at: https://www.ausweisapp.bund.de/ausweisapp2/
Follow us on Instagram and discover all the Digital Trust Heroes: https://www.instagram.com/helixidofficial/
