computer science

MinID

MinID is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand MinID rather than just read about it. In short: MinID is an electronic login system used to secure a range of internet services in the Norwegian public sector. The communication done with MinID is encrypted to secure information from unauthorized usage.

Key takeaways

MinID belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect MinID to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of MinID from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

MinID is an electronic login system used to secure a range of internet services in the Norwegian public sector. The communication done with MinID is encrypted to secure information from unauthorized usage. Everyone registered in the Norwegian Population Register over the age of 13 years can create a public ID with MinID. As of April 2010, more than 2 million people living in Norway had created user accounts with MinID. To create a public ID, PIN-codes from the Norwegian Tax Administration are needed.

Purpose The purpose of MinID is to communicate an electronic identity, so that users are authorized to use electronic services, in a secure way. MinID has a user database where social security numbers and PIN-codes are saved. MinID can be used to access more than 50 online services from various Norwegian public agencies, including the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, the Directorate of Taxes and the State Educational Loan.

Controller The Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (Digdir) is the controller of the personal data handled by MinID. The Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (Norwegian: Digitaliseringsdirektoratet) or Digdir is a government agency subordinate to the Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance. It is responsible for help the public sector achieve quality, efficiency, user friendliness, openness and participation, as well as helping the public sector be organized and led in a good way with good intersectoral cooperation.

User profile Users of MinID have a user profile that contains their mobile phone number and/or e-mail address. This data is used to administrate MinID use. The e-mail address is needed in order to send the user a temporary password if he or she forgets the password. The phone number is needed in order to send an SMS-code at log in or a temporary password if the user forgets the password.

Transparency, correction and deletion According to the law users can claim full access of the handling of their own personal data. Users also have the right to information about how this data are handled and saved, and how they can correct or delete inaccurate data. Users can at any time choose to delete themselves as a user of MinID. The user profile will then be deleted from the MinID user database.

Extradition to others MinID passes on the user's social security number and chosen language to the public services he or she logs on to, so that the user can go to other public services without a new login.

See also BankID (Norway) EGovernment in Europe

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with MinID

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what MinID claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to MinID before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about MinID ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of MinID

In research: MinID appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses MinID in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: MinID is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computer security, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for MinID outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study MinID in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what MinID means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain MinID out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is MinID in simple terms?

Why does MinID matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study MinID?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on MinID.