Help with evID

Prepare a reading

Use a compatible electronic passport or identity card that you are authorised to inspect. Scan its machine-readable zone (MRZ) with Scan MRZ, or type its document number, date of birth and expiry date. Use the card access number (CAN) only if the document supports it. The CAN is printed on the document and is not a PIN.

Choose a reader

• Built-in NFC (iPhone and Android): tap Read chip and follow the prompt on the screen. Keep the document against the device's NFC reader until the reading ends.
• USB smart-card reader (iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android): connect a reader supported by your device's operating system, then select its reader interface in evID. evID lists every interface the operating system makes available, including contact, contactless and security module (SAM) slots. Use the interface name the system shows to choose the intended slot. No particular brand, model or PICC interface name is required, but hardware that the operating system cannot make available is not automatically supported. Present or insert the document as the selected reader requires, and keep it in place until the reading ends.
• Helper device (Bluetooth): another device running evID with an NFC reader can read the document for you, over an encrypted Bluetooth connection.

To read with a helper device:

1. Enter the access key on the device that requests the reading.
2. On the helper, choose NFC assistance → Help another device read.
3. On the requesting device, choose Read using another device, select the current offer and scan the QR code shown on the helper's screen.
4. Tap Read chip and keep both apps open until the reading ends.

Use only a helper device you trust. The evID privacy policy explains what a helper can see.

USB readers and documents

The document must offer its electronic passport or identity card application (eMRTD) on the interface you select. Contact reading is possible only with documents that provide that application, and the access and data it needs, over contact. A SAM slot normally serves a security module and may not offer an eMRTD application; evID still lists it so that the choice is yours. Seeing a reader in the list does not prove that the card in it is a compatible electronic travel document.

The contactless (PICC) interface of the ACS ACR1251 has completed our recorded physical tests. That is a statement of tested interoperability, not a list of permitted readers. Other combinations of reader and document need their own testing, and we do not describe them as tested or as compatible with every document.

If a reading stops

If evID restarts a reading automatically, keep evID open, on both devices if you use a helper, and follow the instructions on the screen. Keep the document still, or lift it and present it again if asked. A new NFC prompt may appear. Wait for the automatic recovery to finish before you tap Retry reading or Reconnect a helping device. Stop reading ends the reading and keeps the access key you entered for a new attempt.

If the USB reader or its interface is removed, connect the same interface again, keep the same document in place and tap Retry reading. Choosing a different interface is a separate step that you take yourself; it is not part of automatic recovery. If the facial image (data group DG2) was not read completely, the photo is missing because the reading was not finished. A notice in the results explains what was not read. Read another document clears the previous result and the access fields.

If the access key is rejected

Compare every character and both dates with the printed MRZ. Dates are written as YYMMDD. Text recognition can confuse similar characters, such as the digit 0 and the letter O. Check whether the document needs its CAN instead. Never enter a PIN, and do not keep guessing: a chip can limit the number of failed attempts.

Understand the results

The results have three parts. Electronic identity shows the facial image, the data fields and a short summary of the evidence. Findings explained describes any problems found and any evidence that is missing. Standards assessment lists the supported technical checks under the ICAO and BSI specifications.

The checks answer separate questions. Whether the signed data is intact, which issuer signed it and whether the chip is genuine are separate from whether the document has expired, whether revocation information covers it and how recent the verification sources are. Missing evidence never counts as a pass. Opening the chip with BAC or PACE does not on its own prove that the document is authentic. If the results show Plain access (unencrypted), the chip was read without encryption, as a last resort.

The technical report states the reader type only when it is known. A USB connection does not by itself show that the chip was read contactlessly, over NFC. The BSI XML export cannot represent contact or unknown reader interfaces in its schema, so for such readings evID explains this export limit instead, and the results on the screen are kept. Export remains available for known contactless readings. This limit does not mean that a signature failed, that the document is invalid or that reading through contact is impossible.

evID is an independent tool. It is not a certified BSI inspection system, a government identity service, a face-matching tool or a system for inspecting the physical document.

Verification sources

In About → Trust sources, you can see what each download is for and how large it is before you download it. Check and review a downloaded candidate before you activate it. Agreeing to a download does not mean accepting its publisher. You can also select custom providers. Approved public sources are kept between launches and app updates. When sources are due for review, evID can check the saved provider for a newer release. Accepting cached sources again does not extend the signed validity of a certificate or of a certificate revocation list (CRL).

Evaluation time

In About → Evaluation time, you choose between your device's clock and authenticated network time from Netnod, which evID remembers once you allow it. If verified network time is unavailable or not yet ready, reading is not delayed: the results say that the device clock was used. evID never changes your system clock.

Languages and announcements

English and Albanian are included in the app. German, French, Italian and Greek are available as optional signed language packs: evID shows the size of a pack and asks you before downloading it. Once verified, a pack works offline. About → What's new shows signed release notes and ALBeID product announcements.

Privacy

Document data and camera images are processed in the device's memory and are never uploaded to ALBeID OÜ. evID uses the internet only to download public files and, if you allow it, to check the time with Netnod. The evID privacy policy explains this in full, including the ordinary access logs of ALBeID OÜ's servers.

Contact support

Write to a.vrushi@albeid.eu. To help find the problem, include:

• your device model and operating system version;
• the evID version and build;
• the reader you used: built-in NFC, a USB reader with the interface name shown, or a helper device;
• the step at which the reading stopped;
• the error message, with any personal data removed.

Do not send the MRZ or CAN, document numbers, facial images, raw chip data or pairing QR codes. If you send screenshots, cover any personal data first. How ALBeID OÜ handles support emails is described in the company and website privacy policy.