[haukem]

Germany does not use a global unique identifier like the social security number in the US. The Germans do not like such global identifier for people because the the Nazis used them and data protection is very important in Germany.

[r3drock]

This is in fact not correct. There are two unique identifiers for every german citizen, first the so called "Rentenversicherungsnummer" and the "Steueridentifikationsnummer". Both are assigned at birth.

[usr1106]

The usage of the Rentenversicherungsnummer is strictly limited by law, basically to pension-related administration. It cannot be legally used for general purpose.

The Steuerindentifikationsnummer used to be strictly limited to tax purposes. Against original political promises the legislation has been changed 2 years ago, weakening the limitations. I am not familiar with the details.

[haukem]

Yes that is correct, but they are not much used outside of the service they are intended for.

[germanier]

The Steuer-ID is now intended to be used as a global identifier. The law is already enacted, but there are still some technical questions open.

See https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/pressemitteilungen/DE/202...

[usr1106]

That's "propaganda" by the ministery, not answering many questions. They only claim that all government administration will become digital, smooth, and much cheaper.

Is it allowed to use the Steuer-ID for non-government purposes?

[germanier]

An enacted law is not "propaganda", it's the law. You can ignore all the fluff around the factual statements if you like.

The number is only intended to be used by government entities. The law restricts usage to census and communication with government entities (as well as already established tax-related use).

[usr1106]

The law is not. But the press release you linked just promised bright future without giving any somewhat nuanced information. Mentioning the number of 584 (whatever it was...) authorities might sound like detail. But it it's completely useless for a single citizen. These are authorities all over the country, no citizen will ever interact with most of them. What I wnat to know how far does it reach for a single resident and where are the limits. The press release does not take citizens into account at all, it's just poor, that's why I called it "propaganda".

(At the moment I am citizen, but not a resident so I have no Steuer-ID yet. But a) it might become a resident some day again and b) as a citizen I occasionally have interact with various authorities anyway. So on top of being interested what happens in Germany in general it might affect me personally.)

An increasing number of previosly public administrative functions have been privatized. Does that immediately mean that data exchange stops there?

[lxgr]

Which makes it completely useless for applications like credit scoring.