18,000 people unable to update their ID cards remotely
Due to technical reasons, 18,000 of the holders of 800,000 Estonian ID cards vulnerable to a security risk are unable to renew their certificates remotely, meaning they will have to visit a Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) service point in person to do so.
"In the course of the test period for remote ID card renewal, it became clear that 18,000 ID cards vulnerabl to the security risk cannot be renewed remotely for technical reasons," said PPA communications director Kirsti Ruul. "The technical failure affects cards dating to a period when ID card remote update solutions did not yet exist."
According to Ruul, a different kind of technical solution is used to update ID cards at PPA service points, which should prevent any issues in the updating process. She noted that one difference was in the fact that when someone updates their ID card certificates themselves, their PINs are displayed, but when a PPA employee does so, they are not.
Preliminary assessments regarding the technical capabilities of remote updates are also currently being reviewed. As the renewal was not preceded by a more typical test period due to time constraints, such bottlenecks were not exposed sooner, and while technical failures were predictable, now they have just been realized.
Those who will be required to visit a PPA service point in person in order to update their ID card certificates have been notified personally via email, Ruul said.
The PPA official also added that based on experiences with previous remote updates, it can be expected that the remote updating of ID card certificates in this case will fail for approximately ten percent of all cards affected.
"These cards can be updated at PPA service points, but that must be done in person," Ruul added.
Editor: Aili Vahtla