mObywatel in English

The topic of today’s post, which I would like to focus on, is the application mObwatel described in English. An application thanks to which we can limit carrying a wallet with documents with us to an absolute minimum. It should be noted that the “mObywatel” application itself is a mobile version of “Obywatel” (Citizen), which is not that popular. Probably due to the fact that it is a web application, and we use such applications mainly when we are at home. And as a result – we probably have access to our analog version of documents anyway. But to the point – focusing on the merits. What exactly are the functions of the mObywatel application, is it safe and are do we really need it?

• Your ID always with you
• Logging in to the e-Tax Office (e-Pit)
• e-Prescriptions without providing a PESEL number
• Benefits with Large Family card
• School and student ID
• National COVID certificate
• Driver’s License on your phone
• Penalty Points
• Your car details – mPojazd / mVehicle
• How do I create an account and log in?
• But is the data in mObywatel safe?

Your ID always with you

mObywatel is a simple way that allows us to present an identity document “in real life”. You can use it on trains, during police checks, when setting up loyalty cards, picking up “referrals” at the post office, at the gym, in a store, at the reception, in a clinic, in a hotel and even during the elections! However, there are some limitations. You can’t use mObywatel in a situation where the law requires you to show an ID card or passport (e.g. at a bank, at an airport, at a notary public or by registering a SIM card. Yes – every SIM card in Poland is supposed to be registered.

That is why it is worth knowing, where the data in mObywatel actually comes from. All information is taken from a current identity database, which is in the state register. So called, the Register of Identity Cards. This means that you can’t use mObywatel if your original ID card is invalid. For example, it’s been restricted due to theft or loss.

Logging in to the e-Tax Office (e-Pit)

By using the e-Tax Office service, you have the opportunity to settle your tax online, at a convenient place and time, without the need to visit the tax office. Click here, if you would like to read more about PIT and Twój e-Pit app.

But what does mObywatel help us with here? This is one of the available login and verification methods, operating on the principle of multi-factor authentication (MFA). Which actually allows you to securely log in to government applications where our data is stored.

e-Prescriptions without providing a PESEL number

e-Prescriptions are part of the Internet Patient Account (IKP). Thanks to that module, you can download, view and above all, fulfill prescriptions issued by your doctor. Using the mObywatel application, you will get medicines from the e-Prescription without providing your PESEL number in the pharmacy. In addition, we can also fulfill prescriptions for our children and other people from whom we will receive a power of attorney.

How do I fill a prescription? You can complete an order for medicines in two ways.

1. By showing the screen of the phone with the QR code displayed for scanning. Then, you do not have to provide a PESEL number.
2. Providing the PESEL number of the person for whom the prescription was issued and the digits displayed under the QR code.

In this article (click), you can read more about IKP itself. IKP is an online patient account, to which I committed a separate article on my blog.

Enjoying benefits and discounts for large families

The Large Family Card (Karta Dużej Rodziny) in mObywatel – or mKDR – is available to every adult person (family “3+”), who has a valid Polish ID card, or for each child (family “3+”) who has mLegitymacja. I will explain it shortly in a next paragraph. Please note here that 3+ in this particular case means a family with at least three children. In addition, people who do not have a Polish ID card can use KDR in the traditional form. Which means the form of a physical card.

Benefits with the Large Family Card

Thanks to the KDR, people from large families can benefit among the others from statutory discounts:

• for railway tickets – parents or spouses of parents – 37% for single tickets and 49% for monthly tickets;
• discounts in passport fees – 75% in the case of children and 50% in the case of parents and spouses of parents;
• free admission to all national parks;

There is also a wide range of KDR Partners from various industries – from children’s stores, through to clothing and footwear stores, bookstores, hypermarkets, electronic stores, jewelry stores, recreation centers, cinemas, swimming pools, entertainment centers… and many, many more.

School and student ID

This application addresses students of all schools. Thanks to mLegitymacja (student ID card) you can forget about carrying the traditional document. Because according to the law, mLegitymacja is a school ID card, but displayed on the screen of your phone. mLegitymacja works just like a traditional document, regardless of whether you are a bachelor student or primary school student. So, by showing it on the smartphone screen, we can take advantage of all the reliefs and exemptions. This is especially important for those of you who happen to spoil or lose your original documents.

National COVID Certificate – mObywatel

Regardless of what you think about vaccinations and COVID itself, it is worth mentioning the online version of the National COVID Certificate. This document works offline as well. All you have to do is launch the mObywatel application and add a document (on the application desktop “Dodaj dokument”). From that moment on, the certificate can be presented without access to the Internet. Useful function, e.g. during border control. Detailed data is hidden from the sight of outsiders. If you would like to view the certificate details, expand the “Additional data” section. It presents three statuses:

• a vaccinated person,
• a person who has recovered (ozdrowieniec),
• people with a negative test for COVID-19.

This is important because each EU country may have different status rules. The certificate itself allows for international verification. This is a great convenience, especially if there is still a Covid lockdown in a country which you are planning to visit. In addition, the certificate itself does not require translation, because it is available in Polish as well as English. In this form, it is accepted throughout the whole European Union.

Driver’s License on your phone thanks to mObywatel

mDriving license (mPrawo Jazdy) uses up-to-date data that are in state registers. Very similar to the ID card mentioned at the very beginning, although in this case from the data contained in CEPiK (Central Register of Vehicles and Drivers). The photo in mDriving license comes from the mObywatel document. That is, from the Register of Identity Cards.

How to present my mDriving license?

It’s easy! All you have to do is show the screen with the mDriving license view. All the necessary data is on it. This can be useful when renting a car, confirming driving privileges, when buying insurance, during a roadside check (although usually the police check the data online), or during a collision. Especially, when you show your license to another driver without calling the police.
I actually described all these subjects separately on my blog already. Therefore, choose and click below, if you would like to read more about:

• Roadside check by the police
• Driving License in Poland
• Car accident and collision in Poland

Penalty Points

I do not wish this on you, but if you need to check the status of your penalty points, if the need arises, the “Online Penalty Points” (Punkty Karne) service available by mObywatel seems to be the best possible option. The service is added automatically when you activate the mPrawo Jazdy service.
To be honest, there are not many threads to describe here – this module of the application, simply shows the current state of our penalty points. The data is updated once a day. The update takes place every day around 6.00 am.

Your car details – mPojazd / mVehicle in mObywatel

The next module is designed for motorists as well. While the Penalty Points module does not captivate with its detail, mVehicle (mPojazd) has these details in abundance. The data from mVehicle reflects the data contained in the registration certificate of your vehicles, as well as about third-party liability policies and vehicle penalties. The service can be used by people who are owners or co-owners of vehicles. So those who are registered in CEPiK as owners of cars, motorcycles, scooters, etc. In other words – in order to use mVehicle you must be “entered in the registration certificate”. This means that you will not see rental, company or leased cars in the application.

The service shows information about the mandatory third-party liability insurance of the vehicle – including the name of the insurance, the series and number of the policy, the insurance period, and its variant. In addition, before the end of the validity of the third party liability insurance, the application will show a message with a reminder. But the question arises, what other data can I find in the mVehicle?

You will find there, for example: brand and model, year of manufacture, registration number, VIN number, date of technical examination, meter status (entered by the diagnostic station or police). But this is not the end. The application also contains information such as the origin of the vehicle, average fuel consumption, curb weight wheelbase or specific CO2 emissions. The service also allows you to transfer vehicle data in the form of a QR code to other applications. Thus, I would like to remind you that this data is already available to any state authority that would like to get into it. Depending on whether we use the application or not.

mObywatel 2.0 – more and better

Importantly, the mObywatel platform is constantly being developed, which results in additional functions and capabilities that will significantly increase the usability of the service. The most important change will be the legal equality of digital documents with those in the traditional form. After the entry into force of the relevant act, the ID card in the mObywatel application will be treated in the same way as its analogue counterpart. The mObywatel 2.0 platform itself will also have significant changes. Here are the most important of them:

• mObywatel 2.0 website – the platform will be available in the form of a mobile application (as before) and from the level of a web browser;
• one mailbox – all messages from offices will be available in one place (ZUS, Tax Office and others);
• notifications – receiving notifications about tax refunds, subsidies from the municipality, admission of a child to kindergarten, or the approaching validity of documents (ID card or passport);
• e-Mandate – the ability to grant powers of attorney to another person and settle matters in offices and through e-services as a representative; e-Payments – an integrated payment system, e.g. for issuing a copy of a birth certificate or other official documents – without commission, immediate execution of payments and payment calendar.

How do I create an account and log in?

So, we come to the requirements part. You need to have Polish citizenship in order to use the application. I called technical support from mObywatel and asked them, if they are planning to use any kind of form of mObywatel for foreigners, however answer was no. As of now, only War Refugees from Ukraine can count on dedicated application, based on their own relevant app. This limits the possibility to use mObywatel, by the foreigners to only those of us, who have Polish citizenship, whereas, in legal terms, citizenship may be acquired on the basis of one’s origin or as a derived right. This applies to double citizenship as well, where at least one of these is Polish.

If you have Polish Citizenship and a Trusted Profile (once again, link to dedicated article available here), it is enough to:

• download and run the mObywatel application (mObywatel in Google Play or mObywatel in the App Store),
• read and accept its regulations,
• click on the tile “Add your first document” if it concerns an ID card or “Add a new document” if you want to attach, for example, a student ID card,
• If you want to attach your ID card, we choose from the list of documents – mObywatel,
• then select the login method. You can do this through an official, banking or temporary Trusted Profile, or through “my ID” if you use the login via the bank,

Sounds simple, right? Because it’s simple.

But is the data in mObywatel safe?

As for a government application, it can be safely stated that mObywatel can boast of many security features. Each person using the application receives their own electronic certificate, which is directly associated with each app. The app is completely encrypted and protected by a password, fingerprint or facial biometrics. If you want to revoke your certificate, just call+ 42 253 54 74.

I would like to mention one more thing about the mObywatel as a general concept. I need to mark here, in my subjective opinion, using the mObywatel application is much more secure than carrying all the listed documents in your wallet. Only the owner of the phone and any authorized persons have access to the application. In addition, usually your phone is protected by what with security measures. Anyone who tries to access your smartphone will not be able to get into the application because they do not know your password and does not have the same fingerprint or the same face as you do.

Summary mObywatel in English?

To sum up, it is worth mentioning that you do not have to carry a wallet with you everywhere, and the smartphone is usually always at your fingertips. So, if necessary, we can show the necessary document right away. In times when we even pay for regular shopping with a smartphone, such a solution is extremely useful and over time it will certainly be used by an increasing number of people.

I would also like to point out that mObywatel is part of a larger plan with the Polish Ministry of Digitization. We are talking here about IPK (i.e. an online patient account) as well as ePuap. A platform used to communicate citizens with public administration units via the Internet in order to manage bureaucracy online. These are very dynamically developing systems and I sincerely hope that they will be able to maintain the highest level of technical advancement and safety, regardless of external conditions.

If you are interested in the subject of digitization of official services in Poland, I encourage you to visit the other posts on my blog, regarding ePuap or the above-mentioned Online Patient Account, available here. Also – I encourage you to share your own opinion about these systems in the comments below. Do you see this as an advantage or rather potential threat for the upcoming future? Relatively speaking, every single app like this is safe and it’s security is unbreakable until the first successful cyber-attack, isn’t it? Let me know, what is your opinion about it.

Special thanks to Eamon Gosney, who has helped with proofreading of this article.

www.gov.pl/; nano.komputronik.pl

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