A chip with personal data will give access to new services.

The City of Seregno, first in Brianza, is among the 100 authorised municipalities throughout Italy to withdraw the traditional accreditation document.  Every citizen of Seregno will instead acquire an electronic card which will contain personal data, their tax code and, upon the citizens' consent, their digital fingerprints.

Biographical data, photos, tax identification number, all in a microchip. In short, the entire life of a citizen - or at least the part that affects the red tape - will be contained in a microchip, the size of a fingernail. It will enable the citizens to apply for certificates, pay taxes and access the services that the Municipality and other public administrations shall make available online in the near future. Versatile, hard to falsify, the 'smart card', similar to an ATM card, has the advantage of allowing delicate operations in maximum security thanks to the microchip and the bar code.

The electronic card will have the same validity with the traditional identity card, but in the coming years - says the Deputy Mayor for Financial Programming, Vito Potenza - it will be able to deliver innovative performance. With a special identification system, in fact, once fully operational, citizens will receive some services at home, thus saving time and money. The experience of tax online, namely, the possibility of tax returns via the network, shows that the computer science applied to Public Administration does work. The introduction of electronic identity card is a challenge for the municipalities to try to expand the tax formula through the Internet.

In order to issue the Electronic Identity card, which has a validity of 10 years, it will be necessary to visit the Demographic Services with the expired paper identity card or a complaint of theft or the loss of the document and the tax code. The Electronic Identity card will be delivered together with three code numbers: the PIN number to enable access to online services, the PUK number to unlock the card after having inserted for 3 times the wrong PIN number and the CIP number in order to block the card, if lost or stolen.

Further information:

• Official press release of the Italian Municipality of Seregno website (in Italian)