Estonia’s national ID card has now been used to give 100 million digital signatures.

The milestone was reached shortly before 17:30 on Monday.



Since 2002, 1.6 million chip-enabled identity cards have been issued and around 500,000 card holders have used its electronic functions to give e-signatures or authenticate their identity - the latter has occurred 164 million times.

One hundred million digital signatures is total that shows electronic communications have turned a new page in their development, Jaan Priisalu, director general of the Estonian Information System Authority, told ERR.

Priisalu says the ID card still has potential for broader use, notably in the field of encryption. “At a time when the public and organizations send a growing amount of confidential material over the Internet, the ID card is very effective at providing privacy.”