Developments in personal identification - The Finnish henkilötunnus

Abstract

This master s thesis reports on the national identification numbering system of Finland. It focuses on three themes within this topic: first, a historical summary of population registration and personal identity numbering in Finland; secondly, the current status of the national identification numbering system including a description of use cases and outstanding issues; thirdly, the future of the system through a designer s eyes.

The national identification number of Finland is called the henkilötunnus ( personal identity code in English). Finland is currently in the process of reforming the henkilötunnus and the processes related to it. Globalization and digitalization have caused several issues with the current system to surface, which need to be fixed sooner rather than later. The reform is projected to be complete by the end of 2019, which makes this a perfect time for a designer to bring knowledge and input to the discussion. This thesis concludes by proposing solutions for a few selected issues.

Most of the available literature and information about the henkilötunnus is written in Finnish. This thesis project is a part of a greater goal: to have an overview of each Nordic national identification numbering system available in English. The Nordic countries were trailblazers in introducing universal personal numbering schemes in the twentieth century, and observers in other countries could potentially benefit from studying the Nordic systems and the challenges they have faced.