ZetesConfidens provides digital trust services for Belgium’s Digital COVID Certificates

ZetesConfidens provides digital trust services for Belgium’s Digital COVID Certificates

25/06/2021

 
Brussels, June 25th 2021 – ZetesConfidens, Zetes’ business unit dedicated to the securisation of digital transactions, has been selected by the Belgian Authorities to provide digital trust services for the Digital COVID Certificate (DCC). Belgium’s DCC was launched on June 16th via a mobile application that can be used by any Belgian citizen to travel around Europe.

 

Guaranteeing authenticity

Voted by the European Parliament earlier this year, the aim of the Digital COVID Certificate is to provide a common solution to all EU citizens to allow them to easily prove their health status. As from July 1st, the DCC will be mandatory for anyone wishing to enter an EU country.

 

As for any proof of identity, data correctness and tamper proofing are centre stage. With the ZetesConfidens Trust Services the content of each individual certificate, encoded in a QR code, is electronically signed so that no fake information can be spread. The principle is similar to that of ePassports. In both documents, personal data is protected and, when read, the information is guaranteed authentic and originated from a trusted party. This method allows a correct usage of the Belgian DCC when travelling Europe.

 

The Zetes solution also enables the Belgian government to significantly reduce the dimensions of the QR code which allows optimal readability of the DCC certificate regardless of form factor (smartphones and others).

 

Solution operational in record time

Given the extremely short deadlines Member States had to deal with, the implementation needed to happen very quickly. A challenge ZetesConfidens was able to address due to its available PKI infrastructure. The setup was completed in less than a week. This allowed Belgium to be accepted on the European gateway, which has been put in place to exchange trust information of the DCC among Member States. The gateway is essential to ensure interoperability, so that DCCs can be verified across the EU, whatever the issuing country.

 

Ronny Depoortere, Senior VP of Zetes People ID, declares: “We are very happy to be involved in this project, which confirms our role as a key partner for the Belgian authorities for all their ID schemes. The ZetesConfidens business unit was created in 2018 and its QTSP status has allowed it to deliver qualified trust services for both the Belgian eID and the Belgian epassport, two documents which are also being produced by Zetes. We are looking forward to assisting any other EU country that is still in the process of completing its DCC solution or external countries that are willing to comply with the EU requirements. Our DCC offering ranges from QR code issuing, over trust services and a Digital Health Pass application, to a verification solution.”

 

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For more information

Marketing Communications Manager

Sarah Dheedene

T +32 2 728 37 11

E sarah.dheedene@zetes.com

 

About Zetes

Zetes is a technology company specialising in supply chain optimisation and citizen identification solutions. Our Supply Chain Solutions help companies achieve agility, visibility and traceability across their connected supply chain. Our People Identification division provides public authorities and supranational institutions with solutions to enable authentication of citizens in view of the issuing of secure ID and travel documents and the creation of national registers or voters’ lists.

 

Zetes is headquartered in Brussels and has more than 1,300 employees in 22 countries across EMEA with a revenue of €281.1 million in 2020. In 2017, Zetes became a subsidiary of the Panasonic Corporation. For more information visit www.zetes.com or subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

About Zetes People ID

The People ID division of Zetes provides secure solutions to accurately identify people, either in their quality of citizen or as customer, both in the physical and the digital worlds. Its portfolio of solutions covers all the aspects of the identification and authentication processes, from registration to identity check. The company has about 20 years' experience in the implementation of sensitive projects for governments and supranational organisations, such as the emission of electronic national identity cards, passports, driving licenses, health cards and visa, as well as voter registration programmes and border control solutions. Our teams have a strong knowledge and know-how in the fields of biometrics, cryptography and data security.

 

The ZetesConfidens division of Zetes People ID is a QTSP as defined by the European Union’s eIDAS regulation. It focuses on the full life cycle of the digital identity, providing multi-platform and multi-modal solutions for securing e-transactions, electronic signing and digital authentication. With this particular product offering, Zetes also addresses private sectors, such as banking & insurance, as well as professional associations. But as digital identity is gaining steam around the world, governments remain a focus market also for ZetesConfidens.

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