Gemalto brings Lithuania closer to European Citizen Card standard with e-ID card

Gemalto has announced today about the delivery of 900,000 Sealys Laser-Secured e-ID cards, commissioned by the Ministry of Interior of Lithuania. The Gemalto e-ID card is made of polycarbonate, with all personal data laser-engraved in the card, to ensure the highest level of security and the utmost durability. The national ID card is mandatory for all citizens above 16 and also serves as a travel document in all EU countries. National rollout started on January 5, 2009. Gemalto delivers the cards to its local partner Lodvila, a security printing company in Lithuania and main contractor of the project. 

This card, the size of a credit card, features contactless technology for identity verification at border crossings, based on fingerprint check. It also embeds a contact microprocessor which contains a certificate for on-line identification and a qualified certificate for electronically signing official documents such as contracts and declarations. 

Lithuania determined to deploy this national ID card in order to allow citizens to travel freely between Member States, as well as to benefit from national and European e-government services. With this e-ID card, Lithuania has taken the first step towards the implementation of the European Citizen Card standard. 

“This contact and contactless card is a world premiere as it combines a highly secure identity card and a biometric travel document. Lithuanian citizens will have in hand a second-generation travel document in full compliance with the latest ICAO recommendations on fingerprints. Gemalto is proud that the country is leveraging the best of Gemalto’s digital security technology for its citizens,” added Jacques Seneca, executive vice president of the Security Business Unit for Gemalto. 

Gemalto’s references in national e-ID programs include notably Bahrain, Belgium, Finland, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and UAE. Taiwan has also recently deployed Gemalto’s digital security technology for its smart card-based resident card, the electronic Alien Resident Card (ARC).

Source: Gemalto via Business Wire