Denmark shifts to MitID as legacy digital ID becomes inactive at midnight, Nov. 1

NemID, Denmark’s national digital ID system, will stop working tonight at midnight, completing the nation’s shift to the more secure MitID system.

The Agency for Digital Government notes that 98 percent of its citizens over the age of 15 have already migrated to the new MitID system, which was first introduced at the end of 2021. Only 31,149 have been active on the outgoing NemID system within the past six months, and only 11,493 were active in October up to the 15th.

Most of those users are either over the age of 80 or have recently turned 15. Those experiencing homelessness also may have not made the shift.

“For the elderly, it may be that they have felt safe using NemID and are therefore waiting as long as possible to switch,” said Adam Lebech, deputy director of the Agency for Digital Government to the Ritzau Newswire. “With young people, it’s more about having to get used to adult life, where you have to interact with the public sector.”

The agency is collaborating with charities working with elderly, homeless, those who do not speak Danish, and other socially vulnerable groups to close in on that last two percent.

Since June 30th, NemiD has not offered support to its users and has not issued any new IDs. Since October 2022, it has not been possible to use NemID for online bank accounts, which facilitated most adults switching to the new system at that point.

NemID was active for over 13 years.

Individuals can create a MitID by downloading the app to their smartphone and uploading an image of their passports using their smartphone camera. Those who must use foreign passports or do not have a smartphone must visit their local Borgerservice office to make an account.

Unlike the NemID system, the MitID system doesn’t offer certain services such as email encryption and digital signing. NemID recommends that users export all encrypted emails as PDFs because they will no longer be possible to access after midnight tonight.

Both ID systems were developed by the Danish payments company Nets. MitID is owned by the Finans Denmark – the nation’s business association for banks – and the Danish Agency for Digital Government.

Denmark’s MitIDs may soon be valid identification in other Nordic and Baltic countries.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Denmark  |  digital ID  |  identity verification  |  MitID  |  mobile app  |  national ID