How and where does the online ID card work?

The connection to the app is made via the aforementioned NFC function, put your mobile phone on the ID card, enter your PIN and off you go. If you no longer have a PIN letter, you can easily have your PIN set up at the city or district ID card office, free of charge and immediately if there is an appointment.

Many services where you can identify yourself online result in forms that you don’t want to fill out on your cell phone. That’s why you can also download and install the Ausweisapp2 on your PC or notebook. The mobile phone is still used as a reading device, it just has to be registered in the same network as the computer.

This is usually achieved by connecting both devices to the same router, regardless of whether it is via cable or W-LAN. So: PC in the network, mobile phone via mobile data on the Internet, that doesn’t work. Both devices, or the two ID apps on the devices, connect automatically if everything is OK. Here, too, the ID app helps diligently. “When you pick up your new ID or get your PIN, you’ll get a little booklet with everything in it.” says Stefanie Hofmann, employee of the Weimar Citizens’ Office.

The number of usage scenarios is still quite manageable. This shows very clearly what a digital desert our government landscape still is. With the Federal Employment Agency, identification already works, with the registration for ELSTER too, BAföG can be applied for, it is possible to inspect the Stasi files, you can get a certificate of good conduct, you can get information from the trade register and also from the portal of the pension insurance register.

You also save yourself the trip to the post office with the Postident procedure, for example if you want to open an account. Identification for the electronic patient file is already working for the first health insurance companies. You can also identify yourself online with other insurance companies. And if you want to know how many points you have in Flensburg, you can see it here.