The AltID app has been downloaded by more than 230,000 people in Denmark less than three weeks after its launch, according to figures provided by the Danish Agency for Digital Government (Digitaliseringsstyrelsen). The country’s new official digital identity app currently allows users to prove their identity or age through their mobile phones, while additional documents, including Denmark’s yellow health insurance card, are expected to be added within months.
AltID was launched on 3 June 2026 as Denmark’s first official application for digital identification and credentials. It is available to people aged 13 and over who have a Danish civil registration number, known as a CPR number.
The first version includes a digital identity card and an age credential. The latter allows users to confirm that they have reached a required age without disclosing information such as their name, address, exact date of birth or CPR number.
The health insurance card could join AltID within months
The Danish authorities are now working to integrate the yellow health insurance card (sundhedskortet) into the AltID app.
“We are now working to add the health insurance card to the app. We are probably talking about months rather than years,” Joachim Møller Alstrup, head of the Danish Agency for Digital Government’s department for electronic identification and apps, told TV 2.
Denmark already has a separate health insurance card app, which serves as valid documentation of a resident’s right to receive healthcare in the country. Integrating the card into AltID would bring services currently distributed across different public applications into a single digital wallet.
The authorities also plan to add driving licences at a later stage. Other credentials proposed for inclusion include pensioner cards, hunting and fishing licences, educational qualifications and examination certificates.
The agency is discussing possible uses with education authorities and the police. One of the options under consideration is allowing criminal record certificates to be stored in AltID, although no decision has been taken.
AltID limits the personal information users disclose
The application has initially been presented as particularly useful for young people who do not have a driving licence but need to verify their age in shops, on websites or at entertainment venues.
When a business only needs to establish whether someone is over 18, the user can share a confirmation of their age threshold rather than their full identity. This principle, often described as selective disclosure, is intended to reduce the amount of personal data exchanged during routine checks.
According to the Danish Agency for Digital Government, AltID does not record the identity or age of individual users. The authority can monitor the number of downloads but says it deliberately collects very limited information about how the application is used.
The approach reflects the broader design of the European Digital Identity Wallet, which is intended to let users decide which information they share with public authorities and private services. EU countries must make at least one compatible wallet available to citizens, residents and businesses by the end of 2026.
Denmark prepares its digital identity system for EU use
AltID is being introduced in stages, with more functions and credentials expected to be added as agreements are reached with public authorities.
The European Commission has identified Denmark as one of the countries planning to integrate privacy-preserving age verification into its national digital wallet infrastructure. The system allows users to demonstrate that they meet an age requirement without revealing their precise age or other identifying information.
The rapid initial adoption of AltID suggests there is demand for a single official application covering identity documents and public credentials. Its longer-term role will depend on how quickly Denmark can integrate widely used documents such as the health insurance card and driving licence, while maintaining the privacy protections presented as one of the app’s main features.
