Checking a German biometric ID card: 4 checkpoints

The biometric identity card in Germany was introduced on 1 November 2010.

This new type of identity card, called “Personalausweis”, is equipped with an electronic chip that contains biometric data, such as fingerprints and the holder’s photograph.

The aim of this card is to strengthen security and facilitate identification in electronic transactions, while reducing the risk of forgery.

So, how do you check a German biometric ID card and make sure that the document presented is genuine? Find out in this article!

The first step in verifying a German biometric identity card when you can access the original document is the overall appearance of the document: it must not show any trace of cutting, peeling, modification/rectification of any kind.

Pay particular attention to the level and around the photo.

The new European biometric identity card is in ID-1 format, the size of a bank card.

The second step in verifying a German biometric identity card online is to check the consistency of the information on the document.

The document number can be found in two different places: on the upper part of the front, and in the first line of the MRZ strip.

Both must be identical:

Here again, the cardholder’s date of birth can be found in two distinct places: in the middle of the front of the card, and at the beginning of the second MRZ line in YYMMDD format:

The same goes for the first and last names, which can be found on the front of the card and in the third line of the MRZ stripe:

Finally, the last element present in duplicate on the card: the expiration date, which can be found on the front as well as in the second line MRZ in YYMMDD format:

The lower part of the new German biometric ID card is made up of three lines that contain the information on the card, with validation keys that prevent misreadings or forgeries.

1. Document Type: 2 characters, code indicating the type of document, represented by the letters “ID”.
2. Issuing Country : 3 characters, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code of the issuing country.
3. Card number : 9 characters, unique card number.
4. Control key: 1 character, control key for the card’s unique number.
5. End of line : 15 characters, chevrons ” < ” to complete the line.

1. Date of birth : 6 characters, year, month and day of birth in YYMMDD format.
2. Control key: 1 character, control key for date of birth.
3. Separation : 1 rafter ” <”
4. Expiry date: 6 digits, card expiry date in YYMMDD format.
5. Control key: 1 character, expiry date control key.
6. Country code : 3 characters, ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code of the holder’s nationality.
7. Separation: 2 rafters <
8. Date of issue : 4 characters, date of issue of the card in AAMM format (August 2021).
9. Control key : 1 character, character concatenation control key line 1 6-15, line 2 1-7, line 2 9-15.

1. Holder’s name and first names : the holder’s first and last names, starting with the last name followed by the first name. The surname and the first name are separated by two characters <. In the case of a compound surname, a compound given name, or multiple given names, they are separated by the character <. Spaces and apostrophes are replaced by the character < and the name is truncated to 30 characters if necessary, and any accents on the letters are removed. The line is then completed by the character <.

A German biometric ID card has 4 control keys (or security keys) that allow you to validate the information that precedes them.

They help avoid transcription errors or changes, whether intentional or not.

The algorithm used to create and validate the control keys is common to all identity documents: the characters have a weight, which is multiplied by a factor according to their position in the chain (7, 3 and 1).

The numbers have their own value (“0” is 0, “1” is 1 etc up to “9” which is 9), the chevron “<” also has a value of 0 while the weight of the letters starts at 10 for the letter “A”, 11 for the letter “B” up to 35 for the letter “Z”.

Let’s take the specimen’s date of birth control key above as an example.

The string to be validated is “830812”.

To calculate the control key, we will proceed as follows:

– “8” has a weight of 8 and is placed in the first position, so it must be multiplied by 7: 8 * 7 = 56

– “3” has a weight of 3 and is placed in second position, so we must multiply it by 3: 3 * 3 = 9, which we add to the previous 56, i.e. 9 + 56 = 65.

– 0 has a weight of 0 and is located in the third position, so we must multiply it by 1: 0 * 1 = 0, which we add to the previous 65, i.e. 0 + 65 = 65.

– 8 * 7 = 56 and 56 + 65 = 121

– 1 * 3 = 3 and 3 + 121 = 124

– 2 * 1 = 2 and 2 + 124 = 126

We therefore obtain a total of 126, from which we will extract the modulo 10 (the remainder of the Euclidean division by 10), which amounts to keeping only the last digit, i.e. “6”.

Our control key is therefore valid because it is indeed 6 that appears on the document!

An identity document has various elements to validate its authenticity.

This is the last step to verify a German biometric ID card online, as it is the longest.

Various new generation holographic devices are used to protect, among other things, the photograph of the cardholder.

These change color depending on the orientation:

Laser engraving of characters that are in relief.

This device can be found on the front, at the top left of the map:

A secondary “ghost” photo is visible on the right of the main photo:

The color is changing depending on the orientation of the card.

This device can be found on the front, at the top middle of the map:

Some elements are visible only under ultraviolet light, but this requires specialized equipment (so not suitable for checking a German biometric identity card online):

Elements are visible when changing the orientation of the map:

Some elements are only visible under ultraviolet light, but this requires specialized equipment:

You now have all the keys to verify a German biometric ID card online and make sure it’s authentic!

No need for specialized equipment: a little vigilance, time and you will be able to avoid most of the fraud that can be encountered on a daily basis!