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Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

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Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#21
The Norwegian welfare agency publish most of their code on github: https://github.com/navikt/

It's the organization you use if you're sick, lost your job, where you get your social security etc. Basically a huge behemoth of all kinds of social or labor services.

While most of the code probably has little value for others (2000 different repos), I think it's quite noble that it's public, given it's made with tax payer money and serves our people. And when working there I found it quite cool to work in the open, a sense of pride in publishing everything we were doing. Also a bit funny, just checked the project I started 5 years ago: "last updated 42 minutes ago".

Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#22

In order to verify your ID with the app your phone must have NFC support to scan the passport/id, and on the screen where you do the verification it says: if your phone doesnt have support find a friend with a phone that supports it, I kid you not.. edit, found it in the code: https://github.com/MinBZK/woo-besluit-broncode-digid-app/blo...

I don't think I've ever used DigiD to verify my passport, I was vaguely aware it had the capability though. On the other hand I use DigiD all the time to login to websites. My health insurance, government websites, etc. Super efficient and simple.

The passport feature is a new one to provide an alternative safer method of verifying ID for the times you need it. It isn't the default use of DigiD and is meant as an alternative to physically taking your passport places.

Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#23
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't Apple block NFC support? Or do they allow peasant apps to read via NFC?

Apple iOS supportss NFC. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corenfc

That's nice, I was under the impression only ApplePay had access to read and write data via NFC. Still no ability to write arbitrary data via NFC, but for the purposes of this app that's good enough.

Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#24

In order to verify your ID with the app your phone must have NFC support to scan the passport/id, and on the screen where you do the verification it says: if your phone doesnt have support find a friend with a phone that supports it, I kid you not.. edit, found it in the code: https://github.com/MinBZK/woo-besluit-broncode-digid-app/blo...

How this is used in practice is when you log in to a government site, you provide your DigiD account name and password, and then (often but not always) verify that it's really you with either SMS or (apparently) by scanning a document with NFC. Since it's just a single-use authentication I don't see a particular problem with doing it on another device. The actual government interaction after you're logged in happens…

> btw I see that attaching an nfc reader to your computer is also supported.

Theoretically supported, or actually possible?

As it stands, DigiD must be used with either the Android or the IOS app in the 'Substantieel' mode of authenticity verification when accessing health care records. This is likely to be pushed to other uses of DigiD as well eventually.

Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#25

The Norwegian welfare agency publish most of their code on github: https://github.com/navikt/ It's the organization you use if you're sick, lost your job, where you get your social security etc. Basically a huge behemoth of all kinds of social or labor services. While most of the code probably has little value for others (2000 different repos), I think it's quite noble that it's public, given it's made with tax payer…

Iceland does the same: https://github.com/island-is/island.is

Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#26

In order to verify your ID with the app your phone must have NFC support to scan the passport/id, and on the screen where you do the verification it says: if your phone doesnt have support find a friend with a phone that supports it, I kid you not.. edit, found it in the code: https://github.com/MinBZK/woo-besluit-broncode-digid-app/blo...

Certainly better than in my country where you need to have a windows machine w/ a card reader to use the certificate from the ID card to login.

Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#27
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple iOS supportss NFC. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corenfc

That's nice, I was under the impression only ApplePay had access to read and write data via NFC. Still no ability to write arbitrary data via NFC, but for the purposes of this app that's good enough.

That was the case for a while, but they've allowed other stuff for a bit now. I've been topping up my public transport smartcard with my phone for, er, three or four years now, I think.

Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been extensively discussed on twitter, and the general conclusion seems to be that yes, this particular snippet is good code.

The only thing that jumps out at me is this: if (percentage == 0) return […]; if (percentage > 0.0 && […] Can a double have a value that is larger than 0 but smaller or equal to 0.0? I would have expected '> 0' instead.

In any language I can think of, 0 and 0.0 are the same, once you're comparing them against a double.

Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#29

Question: can you modify, compile, and run that code and still have it work for the same uses?

It would seem so: https://github.com/MinBZK/woo-besluit-broncode-digid-app/blo...

The interesting aspect of this is that it can be studied to write clients for platforms that are not officially supported -- currently, only Android and iOS are supported, but it'd be great to see a Linux client too.

It's a big shame that history has been rewritten and heavily redacted though. Version control history often has a lot of contextual information that's not immediately obvious in the source code itself.

Re: Source code for Dutch DigiD app released under Dutch Open Government Act

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How this is used in practice is when you log in to a government site, you provide your DigiD account name and password, and then (often but not always) verify that it's really you with either SMS or (apparently) by scanning a document with NFC. Since it's just a single-use authentication I don't see a particular problem with doing it on another device. The actual government interaction after you're logged in happens…

> btw I see that attaching an nfc reader to your computer is also supported. Theoretically supported, or actually possible? As it stands, DigiD must be used with either the Android or the IOS app in the 'Substantieel' mode of authenticity verification when accessing health care records. This is likely to be pushed to other uses of DigiD as well eventually.

I didn't get that from the app, I just went to mijn.belastingdienst.nl > "Inloggen op Mijn Belastingdienst" > "Inloggen met DigiD" > "Met mijn identiteitskaart", there you have to choose a device and you can pick either a smartphone or a computer with NFC reader. Didn't verify that it works but since the option is there...
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