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ID Austria/Handy-Signatur/digital driving licence

Updated: Jan 28, 2024

During COVID there was a scramble to get a Handy-Signatur so that we could all access our Covid test results and prove that we were "Genesen". Since then we have all either forgotten about it or wondered what we are meant to do with it.


Well it is has evolved into "ID Austria".

Following the end of the pilot phase on 5 December 2023 it has now replaced the Handy-Signatur. Anyone trying to use their Handy-Signatur will now be directed by their app to upgrade it to ID Austria. It will eventually be used to access a range of government services and act as a digital ID card (for good or bad).


Similar schemes are being rolled out across the EU and mutual recognition of electronic identities (eIDs) is apparently slowly spreading - but I wouldn't rely on it and travel outside Austria without your physical driving licence just yet! See here (I admit to not fully understanding it even though it is in English!).

Those of us with a Handy-Signatur need to transfer our registration across to ID Austria sometime. I did it early and documented the process...

Note that this is quite a long read, but I was eventually successful so follow through to the end.

Note also that I was told by the Finanzamt that as I don't have an Austrian passport I have to go to the Polizeidirektion to have my ID confirmed. I am not sure if this only applies to third country nationals or to EU citizens too.


Before you start

You need:

  • A mobile phone number

  • Smartphone with either fingerprint or iris recognition function

  • To download the "Digitales Amt" app on your phone

  • A second internet-enabled device (tablet or computer) for the registration process

  • An existing Handy-Signatur which you want to convert into an ID Austria.

Registration with ID Austria

  1. Start the Digitales Amt app on your smartphone and choose "Anmelden mit ID Austria/Handy-Signatur"

  2. On your second device visit https://oesterreich.gv.at/digitalesamt and login with your Handy-Signatur username and password [my username is my phone number including "+43699...]. An SMS code will be sent to your smartphone as part of the login process.

  3. When you are logged in on the second device you will see a QR code. You need to scan this with your smartphone using the Digitales Amt app.

  4. Enter your Handy-Signatur password into the Digitales Amt app when asked.

  5. Tick the two terms and conditions boxes on the app and choose "Zustimmen und umstellen" to convert your Handy-Signatur into an ID Austria account.

  6. Tap the "Unterschreiben und abschicken" button (you can choose to view the document you are signing using the "Dokumente anzeigen" button)

  7. And finally (not finally!) I now had "ID Austria mit Basisfunktion". I then clicked on the profile button at the bottom of the app and saved my email address.

Next steps to get your digital driving licence

It is then possible to download the eAusweis app and put your driving licence on it so that you will never again have to carry the credit card version on you. But for me to do use this I needed to go to an official authority with a passport and get my ID confirmed (ID Austria mit Vollfunktion). I think that if you had registered for your Handy-Signatur via the Finanzamt or Magistrat you immediately have ID Austria mit Vollfunction. I registered for my Handy-Signatur at the post office.


The Finanzamt told me that if you don’t have an Austrian passport you can only go to the police station to have your ID checked. So I went to the Polizeidirektion and had my ID confirmed at the Führerscheinreferat. I needed my mobile phone and passport. I left with an instructions printout (Anleitung zur Fertigstellung Ihrer ID Austria Registrierung) with my Freischaltcode. I could then use this at home using two devices to complete my ID Austria registration.


I had hoped that this would be the end of the story but unfortunately having entered the Freischaltcode, the options on my mobile phone didn't correspond to the instructions on the piece of paper. The solution here was to log out of the app on my phone and log back in again. Perhaps a bit of time (an hour or so) also helped the app to synchronise my data. My app now said that I had “ID Austria mit Vollfunktion”. I was able to press the Ausweise button, link the downloaded eAusweise app to the Digitales Amt app, accept a few terms and conditions, and my digital driving licence appeared.

I now have my driving licence on my phone.


Digital driving licence: Warning

I was recently stopped by the police for a minor traffic offence (I was in the wrong and had to pay a small fine!). I only had my digital driving licence with me, which refused to work. Very luckily for me the police officer was patient. As he told me, there had been an app update which had "bricked" my digital driving licence. I don't know why it hadn't automatically updated. I was able to update it while he waited, following which I was able to show my licence to him, but by this time he had found it himself using my name and date of birth. As he said to me, it is my responsibility to ensure that my app is working, not his, which I understand.

It seems very unfair to me though that there might have been an unannounced update the day before I am stopped, which would render my digital driving licence temporarily useless. Unless I check the app every time I step into my car, I could potentially be in trouble.


Sources


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