Identity Card overview

An identity document (also called a piece of identification or ID Card, or colloquially as papers) is any document which may be used to prove a person’s identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC or ID card). Some countries issue formal identity documents, while others may require identity verification using informal documents. When the identity document incorporates a person’s photograph, it may be called photo ID Card.

In the absence of a formal identity document, a driver’s license may be accepted in many countries for identity verification. Some countries do not accept driver’s licenses for identification, often because in those countries they do not expire as documents and can be old or easily forged. Most countries accept passports as a form of identification. Some countries require all people to have an identity document available at any time. Many countries require all foreigners to have a passport or occasionally a national identity card from their country available at any time if they do not have a residence permit in the country.

The identity document is used to connect a person to information about the person, often in a database. The photo and the possession of it is used to connect the person with the document. The connection between the identity document and information database is based on personal information present on the document, such as the bearer’s full name, age, birth date, address, an unique identification number, card number, gender, citizenship and more. A unique national identification number is the most secure way, but some countries lack such numbers or don’t write them on identity documents. In India, multi-purpose national identity cards, carrying 16 personal details and a unique identification number are issued to all citizens since 2007. Biometric data such as fingerprints and a digital signature are contained in a microchip embedded in the card. On it are details of the holder’s date and place of birth and a unique 16-digit National Identification Number. The card has a SCOSTA QR code embedded on the card, through which all the details on the card are accessible

A smart card is a device that includes an embedded integrated circuit chip (ICC) that can be either a secure micro controller or equivalent intelligence with internal memory or a memory chip alone. The Contact or Contact less Smart card connects to a reader with direct physical contact or with a remote contact less radio frequency interface.