A settlement agreement has been signed between the Police and Border Guard Board and Gemalto AG Tallinn
Tallinn, 05.02.2021 - The Police and Border Guard Board (PBGB) and Gemalto AG (nowThales Group) announce that a settlement agreement has been signed to close the claims on the potential vulnerability to the Estonian eID card which occurred in 2017*. More than three years ago, the PBGB and Gemalto AG successfully rectified a potential security weakness that was identified in the eID Card. The issue came from the cryptographic libraries provided by the chip manufacturer, a sub-contractor of Gemalto AG. The common solution developed against the threat, prevented potential security breaches to citizens’ ID cards.
According to Krista Aas, Deputy Director General of PBGB, several months of discussions with the ID-card provider are now completed and an agreement has been concluded between the two sides. "With the agreement, we will avoid a long and burdensome litigation for the State and Thales, and Gemalto AG will compensate the State 2,2 million euros. We can close this chapter and focus on delivering new egovernment solutions that benefit Estonian citizens" said Aas.
“We appreciate our strong and long cooperation with Estonia”, said Tommy Ayouty CEO Thales**Denmark A/S and Head of Nordic & Baltic Region. “Thanks to the expertise of the Estonian Police, this potential security threat was identified and rectified in record time more than three years ago. Today, we have found common ground for both parties to satisfactorily close the topic.”
(*) The contract with Gemalto AG for the production of PPA ID-card was valid till the end of 2018.
(**) Thales Group acquired Gemalto on the 2nd of April 2019.