Poland’s digital ID mDowód reaches 8 million users

Poland’s national digital identity has reached eight million users, according to the Ministry of Digital Affairs.

The Central European country started accepting the digital ID mDowód as an alternative to physical ID cards last year in July. The digital ID document can be used in offices, banks, post offices and polling places during elections.

“Our goal is for digital identity to be as common as physical documents, and I am glad that more and more Poles appreciate this solution,” says Krzysztof Gawkowski, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digitization.

Despite receptiveness towards identity technologies among Poles, the eight million mDowód users still represent a fraction of the country’s 36.8 million population. The mDowód digital ID also still has some catching up to do with Poland’s bank issued eID mojeID, which has 22 million customers. The electronic identity scheme was developed by the country’s clearing house Kir in cooperation with major Polish banks.

Information on mDowód can be verified through QR codes within the mObywatel mobile app, the public platform that stores electronic documents. The app was created with the help of Warsaw-based digital identity verification company Authologic which completed its Series A funding this month.

In addition to the digital ID, mObywatel contains documents such as mobile driving license (mDL) mPrawo, student and pensioner cards and educational and professional qualifications. It has over 16 million downloads as of January this year, according to the Polish Press Agency.

The platform, however, has also been met with criticism over security.

Earlier this year, SecuRing consultant Szymon Chadam delivered a case study on the digital ID. Although mObywatel offers a cryptographic verification method using QR codes, 75 percent of high-risk organizations do not use it despite it being the strongest verification method offered, he noted.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  identity document  |  mDowód  |  Poland