Finnish Authenticator Identification Service

Before registering a foreigner’s user identifier (UID), check if the e-service you want to use supports authentication with Finnish Authenticator app.

You can register a user identifier in following steps:

1. Go to the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service web site. 
2. Click the register link.
3. Enter your email. If the email is in correct format and not used by any other user, the service sends you a verification link to the email.
4. Verify your email by clicking the link sent to your email. Note that the link is valid 24 hours only and it can be used only once. If you are unable to continue within that time, you must start the registration from the beginning.
5. After verifying the email, you will be redirected to service and asked to read conditions and terms of use. If you mark them read, you can continue the registration process. If you decide not to continue the registration process, no account will be created and the email will be erased from the system.
6. Enter and confirm the password of your choice. The password needs to follow certain password complexity.
7. After successfully setting your password, your account is created and the user identifier (UID) is assigned to you.

After the registration you may log in to the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service, but you still cannot use the Finnish government e-services. You need to elevate your account status by doing the ID proofing with the Finnish Authenticator app.

Note that your account will be blocked if you don’t use your UID in 4 years. If you don’t request the activation by latest on January 1st of the next calendar year your account will be deleted.

After the initial registration of your UID at the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service you can continue directly the ID proofing by logging in with your UID or email and password. 

ID proofing will be done in following steps.

Install and register the Finnish Authenticator app

1. Click Start at the Account Activation page.
2. Install the Finnish Authenticator app on your mobile device with camera. Select either Google Play Store (Android) or App Store (iOS) depending on your mobile device. 
3. Click Next when installation is finished.
4. Choose a name for your app. You can install the app on different devices and choose individual app name for each device (for example MyHomeApp or WorkPhone). This way you can tell the devices apart and decide which one to use.
5. Click Next after you choose the name.
6. Open the Finnish Authenticator app and click Register.
7. If you are using the app and the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service with different devices, read the QR code with your app. The reading will be done automatically if the app and web page are opened on the same device. 
8. After reading of the QR code you will be asked to choose a PIN code for the app (4–8 numbers). The same PIN will be used when you log in to e-services.
9. Finish registration of the app by entering the PIN. 

Take a photo of your identity document

1. Click Next at the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service.
2. Tend to the app.
3. Take a photo of your valid passport with the app. If you are a citizen of an EU country or a citizen of San Marino, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you may alternatively take a photo of your official photo identity card. Note that a driving licence is not accepted for ID proofing.
4. After reading successfully your identity document you will be automatically directed to the next step.

Note that the process can fail because of low quality of the photo. You may retry taking the photo. Avoid reflections and shadows on the document’s surface. Do not block any part of the document with your finger.

Take a photo of yourself

To prove that you are a real person and to verify that you are the same person as on the document photo, you need to take a photo of yourself with the app.

• Find a place where you have a white wall behind your back.
• Position the camera in front of your face like when taking a selfie.
• Look to the camera and follow the instructions given by the app such as blink and turn your head.

The ID proofing process is controlled by the app, and once it is finished you will be redirected to the welcome screen of the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service.

If the ID proofing is successfully passed, the account status is elevated to the level where you may use the app for logging in to the Finnish government e-services. 

If you cannot do the ID proofing immediately after the initial registration, you can do it later in following steps:

1. Log in to the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service with your UID or email and password.
2. Click Start at the welcome page.
3. ID proofing with the app starts again.

If you want to start the ID proofing later while you are already logged in to the service, click the Finnish Authenticator logo to go to the welcome page.

In case something goes wrong during the ID proofing, try first repeating the whole process. Sometimes the reading can fail because the photo is blurry or there are shadows or reflections. In this case retry somewhere else or adjust lighting.

If the ID proofing fails 4 times in the app, you will be given an option to send assistance request for the Customer Service. In this case, you will be asked to give a brief description of the problem and to take a photo of yourself. Once Customer Service have reviewed your assistance request and information about the failed reading you will be informed how to proceed.

To use the Finnish government e-services you must authenticate yourself with the Finnish Authenticator app. Do the following:

1. Enter your UID or your email and password. 
2. Select one of the registered Apps to authenticate with.
3. Tend to the app and enter your PIN. 
4. The screen requesting to run app will automatically disappear after the authentication is finished.

If the conditions and terms have changed since your registration, you will be asked to read conditions and terms of use.

If you have forgotten your password, you can change it at the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service website by clicking "Forgotten password" at the login page.

If the authentication fails, you will be given instructions how to proceed.

You can manage your apps In Credentials page at the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service by selecting Mobile Apps.

To add a new app,

• If you used the app to log in to the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service, click "Add an App" button. Follow the instruction of the service.
• If you used only UID or email and password, click the link “Click here to log in using a Mobile App or USB Token”. Follow the instructions of the service.

To delete an app, click Delete button next to the app you want to delete.

• If you lose your mobile device or accidentally delete your app, you can delete the app information in your account. This will cause the app to delete all information, but not to uninstall it from your phone.
• Note that if you delete your only app you must do the ID proofing again when you add a new app. 

To change your email, go to the Personal information page at the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service and select Contact Details. After entering the new email, a verification link will be sent to your new email.

To change your password, go to the Credentials page and select Password. 

• Click the Change button. You will be asked to enter your old password, new password and confirm the new password.
• If your password is blocked or you have forgotten your password, and you cannot log in to the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service, you need go to Login screen and click "Forgotten password" link. You will be asked to enter your email or UID and a verification link will be sent to your email.

You can request deletion of your account in Personal Information page at the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service. 

1. Click "Request Account Delete". 
2. You will be prompted to confirm the deletion. 
3. If you confirm it, a verification link will be sent to you. 
4. After the verification, your account will be blocked and deleted after data retention period is over. 

The account deletion follows the rules of data retention. This means that you may request account deletion, but the account is really deleted, and all your information removed, only after the retention period is over. The retention period is 4 years, and all the information will be deleted on January 1st of the next calendar year after the retention period.

If you lose your mobile device or accidentally delete the app, you need to do the ID proofing again to link the app for your account.

1. Log in to the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service with your UID or email and password.
2. Go to the Credentials page and select Mobile Apps.
3. Click "Add an App" button.
4. Follow the instructions of the ID proofing.
5. Delete the app installed in your lost device.

Note that you must use the same document as you did the first time to prove you are the same person.

If you have forgotten your email, log in to the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service with your UID and check the email.

If you have forgotten the password of your email, try to retrieve it from your email provider’s login page.

If your email has been stolen, go immediately to the Personal information page at the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service and change the email.

The Finnish Authenticator Identification Service stores the following information in your account:

• Your user identifier (UID)
• The email associated with your account
• Your account status
• Your personal information read from the identity document
• Personal information such as phone number and address
• Transactions performed with the account by you or by Customer Service

There are functions for viewing your account profile and editing your personal information. 

• In the Dashboard page, you can see an overview of your account activity.
• In the Assistance Requests page, you can view your assistance request and their status if you requested help during the ID proofing.
• In the Transactions page, you find detailed information about all actions performed with your account such as registration actions, ID proofing, changes in personal information and authentications to different e-services.

Personal information

In the Personal information page you can

• view your personal information read from the document and saved in the service
• view and edit the contact details how Customer Service may communicate with you
• review document details read from your document during the ID proofing process.

If your identity document has changed and you want to change the document details, you need to perform ID proofing with a new document. In this case the change is not immediate, and you need to wait for Customer Service to review the change after you finish it.

Account menu

The account menu on the top right of the main screen displays your name and UID. It provides a logout option and displays your account status. 

The status may be:

• Unverified: your account is created and your UID is assigned to you but there is no identity assurance.
• Verified: you have passed the ID proofing by reading your identity document and performing face verification.
• Verified, but new ID proofing is needed: you have passed the ID proofing but a new ID proofing with the original identity document is needed for example after installing the app to a new device.