Checking an Algerian identity card (CNIBE) online: 4 points to check

The Algerian National Identity Card (CNIBE) is an official document that allows any Algerian citizen to prove his identity and, as long as it is valid, his Algerian nationality in the same way as a passport.

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

Therefore, how can an Algerian identity card be verified and ensure that the document presented is authentic? Find out in this article!

The first step in verifying an Algerian 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 electronic identity card is in ID-1 format, the size of a bank card.

The second step in verifying an Algerian 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.

It consists of 12 characters.

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 back 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 Algerian identity card is composed of three lines that contain the information on the card, with validation keys that avoid misreadings or falsifications.

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 : 13 characters, unique card number.
4. Control key: 1 character, control key for the card’s unique number.
5. End of line : 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. Gender : 1 character, “M” or “F”.
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. Separator : 11 characters, “<“.
8. 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 <.

An Algerian identity card has 4 control keys (or security keys) that allow the information that precedes them to be validated.

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 check key above as an example.

The string to be validated is “840622”.

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

– “4” has a weight of 4 and is placed in second position, so it must be multiplied by 3: 4 * 3 = 12, which is added to the previous 56, i.e. 12 + 56 = 68.

– 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 68, i.e. 0 + 68 = 68.

– 6 * 7 = 42 and 42 + 68 = 110

– 2 * 3 = 6 and 6 + 110 = 116

– 2 * 1 = 2 and 2 + 116 = 118

We therefore obtain a total of 118, from which we will extract the modulo 10 (the remainder of the Euclidean division by 10), which is equivalent to keeping only the last digit, i.e. “8”.

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

An identity document has various elements to validate its authenticity.

This is the last step to verify an Algerian identity card online, as it is the longest.

Recto

Laser engraving

Laser engraving of characters that are embossed:

“Ghost” photo

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

Ultraviolet control

Some elements are visible only under ultraviolet rays, but this requires specialized equipment (so not suitable for checking an Algerian identity card online):

Hologram

Elements are visible when changing the orientation of the map:

The colors change when you turn the card 90°:

Back

Laser engraving

Laser engraving of characters that are embossed:

Optically variable brand:

The color changes when you change the orientation of the map.

You now have all the keys to check an Algerian identity card online and make sure it is 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!