TeSSA2 HST-subproject Juho Heikkilä, Pekka Kanerva, Markku Laukka, Sanna Suoranta Introduction The goal of the subproject is to combine the TeSSA architecture and the Finnish Electronic Identity (HST) architectures and show that strong identification of a person to all parties involved is not usually necessary. Background In this age of growing use of information networks a user is required to register to an ever growing number of services and give out information about him/herself. The gathering and combination of these pieces of information pose a threat to personal rights, security and privacy. There are many services where the user simply has to be identified, such as filling out tax forms, but in many cases it would suffice to prove that the subject has the right to do what he/she is doing. The person should by default enjoy the protection of anonymity, or else the we may be heading ever deeper to an Orwellian society. HST - Finnish Electronic ID card Henkilön Sähköinen Tunnistaminen (HST) is a venture of ministry of finance, ministry of transport and communication and ministry of interior aiming at providing the citizens of Finland with an electronic identity card. The new card would in addition to traditional visual identification provide means to identify the person over an information network and thus make possible to conduct official business, such as filling out tax forms, or applying for a drivers licence over the network. The Population Register Center has been named the highest certifying authority in Finland and is responsible for granting the cards and maintaining the infrastructure. At present day, not many governmental services are available on the Internet due to the lack of infrastructure providing strong identification. The HST-project aims at the creation of an infrastructure providing secure means of conducting official business in open and insecure networks. The infrastucture bases on a smart card using strong asymmetric cryptography, making it possible to identify a person and sign documents electronically. Compared to current practice on the network, official business requires more robust non-repudiation, time stamps and integrity. Goals Study the use of TeSSA architecture in HST environment and produce a combining library in Java. (PK)   To produce an application illustrating that strong anonymous authorization can replace strong identification in many situations. We have decided to produce an anonymous bank account card, that remains anonymous to the merchant, but proves that the holder is authorized to use an account. HST-card does not provide anonymity, thus it is used as a secure key for activating the bank card certificates. (JH)   To design a user interface to the application, to evaluate its usability and to write a paper about the subject. (ML)   Study the security aspects of HST, its effect on personal security and anonymity. A paper is also to be written on the results. (SS) Links Väestörekisterikeskus (Population Register Centre) Henkilön sähköinen tunnistaminen - projekti (HST-project) FINEID technical specifications Technical Specification of EID-system This page is maintained by:Juho Heikkilä, Email: juho@tcm.hut.fi Page has last been updated: May 25, 1999