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Verifying your identity online with WebID

For first-time signers with no national eID: what you need to hand, what the check involves, and what happens after.

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A Qualified signature has to be tied to a verified person, so somewhere in the process your identity gets checked properly. If you already hold a national eID, that check happened when it was issued and you just use it: see Signing with an eID you already have.

If you hold none of these, Verify my identity online at the bottom of the provider screen is the way through. It is not a fallback for difficult cases; it is the normal route for a first-time signer.

The provider dialog with the "Verify my identity online" button below an OR divider, offered as an alternative to picking a national eID.
The way through when none of the listed services is yours.

What you need before you start

  • A computer and a phone. You start on the computer and continue on the phone by scanning a QR code.
  • Your passport or national ID card. A government-issued photo document, a driving licence or a residence card is not enough.
  • A stable connection. There is a live video step, and a call that drops has to be started again.

The details you fill in

Before you are handed over, swipesign collects what WebID needs in order to prepare the check: your date of birth, gender, mobile number and residential address.

The mobile number matters more than it looks
WebID texts you a TAN during the video call, and the same number becomes part of the signature profile you are creating. Enter it with the country code, and use a phone you have with you: you will need it again every time you sign.

Enter these exactly as they appear on the document you will hold up. An agent compares the two, and a mismatched middle name or an old address is the usual reason a check has to be repeated.

What happens during the check

  1. 1
    You are forwarded to WebID and scan the QR code with your phone.
  2. 2
    A WebID agent joins by video and asks to see your ID document, checking it against the details you entered.
  3. 3
    You confirm with the TAN they text you.
  4. 4
    A-Trust, a qualified trust service provider, issues you a signature certificate on the strength of that check.
  5. 5
    You are returned to swipesign, where you swipe again and the signature runs through ID Austria automatically.
swipesign never sees your ID document
The video call and the images of your passport belong to WebID and A-Trust. What reaches swipesign is the confirmation that the check passed, and who you were confirmed to be.

You only do this once

The certificate is yours, not the document's. Next time you are asked for a Qualified signature, by anyone, for any document, swipesign recognises you and goes straight to ID Austria without offering the provider list again.

Use the same number and password afterwards
The mobile number and password you set during the check are what ID Austria asks for from then on. If the sign-in screen later refuses them, it is nearly always a different number being tried. See Signing with ID Austria.

If the check does not complete

You come back to a screen saying the verification did not finish. Nothing has been signed and nothing is held against you: Back to signing returns you to the document and you can try again or pick a different provider.

Dropped calls, poor light on the document, and a TAN that arrives late are all ordinary reasons to end up here.

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