Checking the MRZ strip of a biometric driving licence

The new French biometric driving licence comes into force in 2013, replacing the ageing pink three-part driving licence.

A plastic card in ID-1 format (credit card), it has high-level security features (MRZ strip as well as other security features), which make it possible to better fight fraud and access information in real time.

Is it possible to carry out a “manual” verification of these various elements in order to ensure the authenticity of a biometric driving licence? Find out in this article!

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The French biometric driver’s license is a secure and modernized version of the traditional driver’s license.

Introduced in 2013, this document is gradually replacing the old paper driving licences.

The main features of the biometric license are:

• The biometric driver’s license has a plastic credit card format (54 x 86 mm), which is much stronger than the old paper licenses.
• It no longer contains an electronic chip since 15/07/2015, source permisdeconduire.ants.gouv.fr.

• The card has several security features (holograms, micro-prints, etc.), which make it more difficult to forge.

• This permit complies with European standards and allows harmonization between the countries of the European Union. This facilitates the exchange of information and the mutual recognition of permits between Member States.

• Unlike the old unlimited license, the biometric driving license is valid for 15 years (5 years for professional categories). At the end of this period, it must be renewed, but without requiring a new examination.

• The information is also kept in digital form in a centralized database, making it easy to check and update.

• The biometric driver’s license has an MRZ (Machine Readable Zone) stripe , which is automatically readable during identity checks or at borders. This tape contains coded information about the licensee and their licence.

• Fight fraud with secure devices.
• Facilitate checks by the police and authorities through the introduction of the MRZ tape.

In summary, the French biometric driving license is a more secure document, standardised at the European level, and designed to fight against fraud while facilitating administrative and police checks.

In France, the driving license is not officially considered an identity document in the strict sense, as are the national identity card (CNI) or the passport. However, it is often accepted as proof of identity in many everyday situations, especially for administrative or banking procedures. This is due to the fact that it contains key information about the holder (name, surname, photo, etc.).

• Accepted in some contexts: The driver’s license is often accepted as proof of identity in unofficial contexts, such as when opening a bank account or renting property.
• Refused in certain administrative procedures : During certain official procedures, such as voting or crossing borders, only official identity documents such as the national identity card or passport are valid.

The MRZ strip of a French biometric driver’s license consists of a 30-character line.

It includes the following elements:

1. Document Type: 2 characters, code indicating the type of document, represented by the letters “D1”.
2. Issuing country: 3 characters, the ISO code of the issuing country, for France it is “FRA”.
3. Document number: 9 characters starting with the year the permit was issued (13 = 2013 in the example above).
4. Control key: 1 characters, the document number control key.
5. Validity date: 6 characters, the document’s validity end date in YYMMDD format (181231 = 12/31/2018)
6. Holder’s last name: 8 characters completed by chevrons “<” at the end if necessary.
7. Global Control Key: The control key for the entire MRZ tape.

A biometric driver’s license has 2 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 a simple example to illustrate how the algorithm works, namely the expiration date of the document (we won’t do the exercise with the real keys because it’s too long).

The string to be validated is “181231”.

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

– “1” has a weight of 1 and is placed in the first position, so it must be multiplied by 7: 1 * 7 = 7

– “8” has a weight of 5 and is placed in second position, so it must be multiplied by 3: 8 * 3 = 24, which we add to the previous 7, i.e. 24 + 7 =31.

– 1 has a weight of 1 and is located in third position, so we must multiply it by 1: 1 * 1 = 1, which we add to the previous 31, i.e. 1 + 31 = 32.

– 2 * 7 = 14 and 14 + 32 =46

– 3 * 3 = 9 and 9 + 46 = 57

– 1 * 1 = 1 and 1 + 57 = 58

We therefore get a total of 58, from which we will extract the modulo 10 (the rest of the Euclidean division by 10), which is equivalent to keeping only the last digit, i.e. “8”.

The control key would therefore be valid if equal to 8 on the document!

You now have all the keys to check a French biometric driver’s license online from its MRZ strip and make sure it is authentic!

There’s no need for specialized equipment: just a little vigilance and time, and you’ll be able to avoid most of the frauds you encounter on a daily basis!