In the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia on 14 February, the novelty that may be introduced has been introduced vote without leaving home as long as the request for voting is mailed with a digital certificate. As a result, we at the AOC have received inquiries about whether digital certificates can be issued remotely, through a video identification procedure approved by the Law 6/2020 on trusted electronic services. This option would have been very positive to increase participation in the elections and avoid queues at the citizen service offices of the idCAT registration entities.
At the AOC we have been working to make a telematic registration procedure available on idCAT Mobile and idCAT Certified using video identification or video conferencing technologies. These systems are very popular in the financial sector when it comes to opening bank accounts and offer guarantees equivalent to face-to-face registration, in accordance with the certifications issued by official conformity assessment bodies. The use of this registration system would increase the guarantees of the current telematic registration process of idCAT Mobile, which is currently done according to information known to both parties.
Since May 2020, the AOC has been operating a telematic registration pilot at idCAT Móvil using video identification, which has worked very satisfactorily. This is aimed primarily at groups that, in the current situation, have serious difficulties in registering with idCAT Mòbil with the usual DNI or TIE and health card information system. These are mostly European foreigners.
On November 11, 2020, the Law 6/2020 on trusted electronic services which has authorized the use of the video identification registration procedure for the issuance of qualified digital certificates. This is a great milestone that will make it much more agile and easy for citizens to obtain a digital certificate without leaving home and, at the same time, will save work and queues for registration entities, especially local bodies that are in high demand.
However, the application of this provision is conditional on the approval of a ministerial order that develops the technical regulation of the video identification procedure. Although there is already a draft and it has already been submitted for public consultation, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has informed us that it will not be approved until March 2021. In this context, it is absolutely unfeasible to offer a channel for the telematic application of digital certificates through the video identification procedure for the Catalan elections of 14 February.
The AOC has the technological solution available to offer the telematic issuance of idCAT certificates, as soon as the state regulations governing it are completed.
Video identification is a remote identification procedure with guarantees equivalent to the face-to-face process that works using a mobile phone with the camera active and follows the following steps:
