We tested France Identity to dematerialize a CNI on smartphone

The France Identity application is available on the Google Play Store and we tried the experience of the dematerialized identity card…

Since 2021, the electronic identity card has been available to everyone. In credit card format, it is full of technologies to certify its authenticity and complicate the lives of counterfeiters. Even more, it is equipped with an NFC chip to go even further.

France Identity is there

A year later, in April 2022, we learned that the government was working on an application to dematerialize this official document in order to always have it on your smartphone. Called France Identity, this application is currently in early access on Android (on the Play Store) and iOS (via Test Flight). So we took advantage of an identity card renewal to try the application.

The application is very sober in white and blue with just the logo of the French Republic (Marianne on the tricolor) on certain screens to bring a little more charm. At the first start, the application asks you to enter the six digits of your identity document, then to validate by sticking your CNI against your phone to read the NFC information.

An association in several times

Here, first concern, the application did not give me time to stick the two objects against each other, but it does not matter, the second attempt was more fruitful. You must then connect via France Connect. If you already have an account created when filling out your taxes, for example, this step should be quick. From there, the app should link the two pieces of information… right?

Well, in this case, France Identity asked me to redo the entire manipulation. Take out the card, enter the six digits, stick it to the phone… And that’s it. It wasn’t that complicated after all.

What is France Identity used for?

France Identity allows you to create a single-use proof of identity for which you define the reason and the validity period (1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month or 3 months). This contains your surnames, first names, your sex as defined by the administration, as well as your date and place of birth. It therefore does not include certain sensitive data, such as the card number for example.

Be careful though: to generate this proof, you will need… your CNI since a new NFC contact is required during the process.

For the moment, the France Identity application is therefore rather limited, but it is still in beta. Subsequently, the government promises to be able to prove its majority without revealing its identity or to give a power of attorney to a third party in one click, to recover a package for example. To see how quickly it will be adopted, knowing that a majority of CssTricks’s readership is against the very principle.

Do you use Google News (News in France)? You can follow your favorite media. Follow CssTricks on Google News (and ).