On September 23, the so-called "ID Wallet" app received an update that should advance digitalization in this country. To be precise, German users should be able to store a digital representation of their identity card (basic ID) and their driver's license on their iPhone from version 1.6 onwards. The application is now no longer available in the App Store.
When the update for the ID Wallet, the app was advertised as follows:
As a digital wallet, the ID Wallet is your central tool for managing and using digital proof in the ecosystem. You can easily store proof in the wallet and use it as verified proof for third parties. When used as part of the verification process, the SSI network is used as a trust anchor to check that the proof really comes from the issuer (e.g. from the Federal Printing Office for the basic ID or from the Federal Motor Transport Authority for the digital driver's license certificate), is valid and authentic.
Does the ID Wallet have a security problem?
The problem was that the application was overrun. This meant that most interested parties were unable to run the app due to the high user load. Connection interruptions, crashes, loading loops and more were the highlights, which meant that the ID Wallet was basically unusable. Now the app is no longer available in the App Store. In a statement published on the official website of the Federal Government published was, it says:
After the digital driver's license went live on September 23, there was extremely high interest. The very high demand for the ID Wallet app in general and the associated high load on the system resulted in unexpected peak loads that temporarily affected the use of the ID Wallet app. In addition, the launch of the app received a lot of attention from users who are intensively concerned with security and trust issues. The federal government is grateful for this. It is following up on all of these tips with a view to the next release.
Relaunch to take place in “a few weeks”
Interestingly, in the meantime reports that the underlying blockchain technology is "conceptually flawed and vulnerable". Accordingly, the application seems to have more than just a load problem. According to the federal government, "the system will be designed for higher payloads and the security notices will be followed up". For this reason, the app was temporarily removed from the store. It continues:
The relaunch of the app will be combined with extensive improvements to user guidance and design that have already been planned. After testing and further development, the ID Wallet will be available again in the app stores in a few weeks.
Whether the whole thing will actually work remains to be seen. Since this involves the storage of very sensitive data, the skepticism is likely to be correspondingly high. (Image: Apfelpatient - ID Wallet App)
