Government underlines its confidence in itsme® by extending their accreditation
The federal government has just extended their accreditation for itsme® for another 3 years. This allows citizens to use the app as the official login method for the Federal Authentication Service (FAS), the portal that provides access to a whole range of government services. It also means that the majority of Belgians are able to submit their tax returns safely and smoothly as usual with the itsme® app.
Because of the high level of security and ease of use, itsme® has been the most popular tool for logging into online government services, such as Tax-on-web and MyPension.be, for a number of years now. For every 10 Belgians who log into a government service online, 7 of them use the itsme® app. In percentage terms: in 2023 almost 68% of all FAS authentications were made via itsme®, 16% via the eID and 16% using other methods, such as tokens.
Highest level of security
So, by using itsme®, Belgians have found an easy, problem-free way of accessing government services online. More than 7 million of our compatriots have an itsme® account and of those, over 6 million also use the app for government applications. And it’s a good thing that so many Belgians rely on itsme® to log in to the government, because it is by far the most secure method, including at European level. Out of the 7 authentication keys on the FAS, itsme®, along with the eID, is the only means officially recognised by the EU as a method of identification that offers the highest level of security (with a ‘high’ level under the eIDAS regulation).*
Analysis shows that the app will also meet the highest level of security (‘essential’)as defined in the forthcomingNIS2 Directive**, which is the European legislation governing the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure. The NIS2 Directive does not come into effect in all European Member States until this autumn, but itsme® didn’t want to wait until then. So, thanks to international legislative frameworks, such as eIDAS and NIS2, all users in the 14 countries where itsme® now operates, can use the app with total peace of mind.
Super secure, super easy
In addition to security and reliability, ease of use is also at the heart of itsme®. Using one and the same app, you can identify yourself online, log in, confirm transactions, and sign documents. And you can do this with more than 2,000 government platforms and 1,000 private partners. itsme® is now used in more than 20 sectors: banks, insurers, HR companies, energy suppliers, document platforms, professional service providers, the real estate sector, etc.
Interaction in the itsme® app always happens in the same intuitive way, with users always following the same sequence of steps. This keeps them in control of their itsme® actions at all times and they decide which data they want to share. “The fact that all actions have to be carried out via the itsme® app is the ultimate guarantee for your online security,” points out Stephanie De Bruyne, CEO of itsme®. “And we always apply the same golden rule: itsme® never shares any more of your data than is necessary.”
This means that itsme® is now firmly established at every level of society: with both the young and old, with both digital natives and people who tend to struggle with digital applications and with both Belgian nationals and expats. Market research conducted in 2023 confirms that itsme® is very much an established value in Belgium. And in the annual survey carried out by the market research bureau, GfK, itsme® comes to mind as the identification method most chosen and most frequently used in Belgium. In 2023, Belgians carried out an average of 1 million actions per day using itsme®.
*eIDAS stands for ‘Electronic Identification and Trust Services’. Europe intends to use eIDAS to remove any digital barriers between countries in the European Economic Area. In doing so, the security of digital systems can be guaranteed and people’s privacy can be protected.
** NIS stands for ‘Network and Information Systems’. The NIS directive applies to critical infrastructure and focuses on a whole range of risks and cyberattacks that threaten European network and information systems