Stenbock House – Prime Minister Andrus Ansip started using the Mobiil-ID service, which enables the user of e-services to safely verify their identity with a mobile phone, for example, log on to an internet bank and supply a digital signature. The Mobiil-ID service is an analogue of the ID-card in a mobile phone.
The Prime Minister said he uses the electronic functions of the ID-card every day and recommends everybody else do the same. “It is very simple and convenient,” said the Prime Minister, and after using the Mobiil-ID for the first time, he said the same about this service. At the moment, almost 1 million people in Estonia have an ID-card, but there are only around 90 000 users of its electronic functions. A sudden increase in the number of card users appeared after the e-voting in March and as a result of the activities of the Computer Protection 2009 initiative.
A pan-Baltic cooperation project, the aim of which is to establish a common digital signature standard, has also been launched on the basis of the Mobiil-ID. “In everyday life this would mean, for example, that the Lithuanian Prime Minister signs a document, e-mails it to the Estonian Prime Minister, for example, who can check whether the digital signature on the document is valid, signs the document digitally after checking, and e-mails it back to his colleague,” said Andres Aarma, coordinator of Computer Protection 2009.
“Estonia is one of the first countries in the world where the Mobiil-ID service has been taken up. At the moment, only EMT provides this service but, in the near future, other mobile operators are also expected to provide the service,” Aarma added. With the help of Mobiil-ID, it is possible to log on to, for example, hanza.net, U-net, eMaksuamet, the State Portal and several other e-services. And just like with the ID-card, it is possible with the Mobiil-ID to supply your digital signature which is equal to your hand-written signature.
According to the Prime Minister, the state must guide the people towards the safe use of e-services. “We cannot put the reliability of our e-services and the well-being of our citizens, as well as trust towards the public sector, at risk,” said Prime Minister Ansip.
The Computer Protection 2009 initiative, launched in May of last year, is a joint project between the main funders of the Vaata Maailma Foundation (Hansapank, SEB Eesti Ühispank, EMT and Elion) and the Estonian state, to make computer use safer. Over the course of three years, the parties will fund the Computer Protection 2009 initiative with MEEK 60. The aim of Computer Protection 2009 is to reach 400 000 ID-card and Mobiil-ID users in the year 2009.
What has already been achieved in the course of Computer Protection 2009, as well as future plans, were introduced to the Prime Minister by Tiit Pekk (vice-president of the supervisory board of the Vaata Maailma Foundation, special projects manager at Hansapank, internet banking security team manager of the Bank Association), Tõnu Grünberg (member of the supervisory board of the Vaata Maailma Foundation, member of the management board of EMT), Ain Järv (manager of the Vaata Maailma Foundation, manager of AS Sertfitseerimiskeskus) and Andres Aarma (coordinator of Computer Protection 2009).
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