Starting from next April 2, the digital DNI can be used on the mobile phone as a valid means of legal identification. In addition, as pointed out from the official website (MiDNI), dependent on the National Police, public and private entities will be obliged to accept this digital version.
The MiDNI application, they underline, is the only official one from the Police and with legal backing for the completion of all procedures. Because it is the only one, they add, “that, at the moment of using it, makes a connection to the servers of the National Police to request, at that very instant, the citizen's DNI data. These data are returned signed by the Police and have a limited validity in time, which provides real-time information and makes the falsification and manipulation of data impossible. At no time are these data stored on the mobile phone”. Furthermore, they conclude, “it is the only one that provides the same uses as the physical DNI in Spain”.
How to obtain the Digital DNI?
First, you have to register on https://www.midni.gob.es.
Subsequently, with the downloaded app, you will now be able to activate the DNI in three steps:
- Enter activation data: DNI number + support number.
- Create your password / biometric mechanisms.
- Enter the verification code that you will receive by SMS.
What is it for?
The DNI on the mobile plays in the digital world the same role as the DNI in card format in the physical world. It serves as an instrument that undoubtedly accredits the identity of the citizen, as recognized by Spanish legislation.
With the DNI on the mobile yes you will be able to, among other things:
- Prove our identity in person (as long as there is a data connection).
- Establish any type of legal relationship.
- Sign deeds before a Notary.
- Prove our identity in person for administrative procedures.
- Carry out in-person administrative procedures at Universities and Educational Centers (both public and private).
- Prove legal age.
- Open a bank account.
- Formalize any type of insurance.
- Register at a hotel.
- Rent a vehicle.
- Buy nominative tickets that require identifying the interested holder.
- In-person commercial transactions in which a valid National ID is required or proving the identity of the interested party.
- Perform access control to buildings.
- Access different entertainment venues (cinemas, theaters, concerts, etc.).
- Parcel collection (Post Office, courier services, ...).
- Collection of medicines in pharmacies...
What you cannot do with the digital DNI?
For the moment, they explain in MiDNI, there is no possibility of remote authentication or signature operations. Nor can it be used as an electronic travel document, nor to prove identity remotely.
With the DNI on your mobile you will not be able to:
Prove identity via the internet.
- Prove identity in person without data connection.
- Present it as an electronic travel document for border crossing.
- Prove identity in other countries.
- Perform online authentication and/or electronic signature procedures.
Can one vote with the DNI on the mobile?
On the official website, among the procedures that can indeed be done with the digital DNI, voting still appears, however, this facet has been momentarily suspended.
At the end of last March, the Central Electoral Board opted to put on hold its agreements that allowed the use of the digital version of the National Identity Document (DNI) to identify oneself at the polls, an option in force since last September.
At the initiative of the PP, the body decided that this system can no longer be used in the Andalusian elections on May 17 nor in future elections until it is accredited that the verification process is "sufficiently secure".
In September, the JEC gave the green light to the Ministry of Interior's app, both for the digital DNI and for the driving license, understanding that it incorporates the voter's photograph necessary for their identification and that it has the same official validity as the document in physical format.
However, the leadership of the PP maintains that it is not enough to show the digital ID on the mobile screen, but that it would be essential to access the application, generate a unique QR code and proceed to its verification. This requirement was already raised in the Aragon elections, but the regional Electoral Board then dismissed that need, considering the current system of showing the ID image with the voter's photo sufficient.