identifikatsioon

Identifikatsioon is the process of establishing or verifying the identity of a person or object. It is used in legal, administrative, financial and technological contexts to determine who or what is being referred to and to grant appropriate access or rights. In everyday language it covers both identifying someone in a crowd and confirming the authenticity of a claimed identity.

Identifikatsioon differs from autentimine (authentication). Identification aims to establish identity, often by comparing claimed identity with known attributes or records. Authentication is the process of proving that the claimed identity is true, for example by presenting credentials or biometrics.

Methods and instruments include documents such as identity cards and passports; knowledge-based factors like PINs or passwords; possession-based factors such as smart cards, mobile devices or security keys; and inherence-based factors such as fingerprints or iris scans. In digital contexts, a digital identity is formed from verified attributes and credentials to enable online access and transactions.

Applications span border control, banking and payments, e-government services, healthcare, education and elections. In Estonia, a prominent example is a nationwide digital identity ecosystem that includes ID cards, Mobile-ID and Smart-ID, supported by secure data exchange via X-Road.

Legal and privacy considerations govern how identifikatsioon data is collected, stored and processed. Data protection laws (for example GDPR) require purposes limitation, data minimization, consent where applicable, and strong security to prevent identity theft and misuse. Ongoing emphasis is placed on user control and transparency about how identities are used.