From the birth of Jesus to the CPR: Here is the story of the personal identification number

This week, it came to light that unauthorized individuals – through a small Danish company – gained access to 8.8 million CPR numbers.

It is the largest breach of the Danish CPR register ever ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/professor-det-stoerste-brud-nogensinde-mod-det-danske-cpr-register ).

The leak has sparked a major debate about data security and whether it is time to retire the Central Person Register.

In that connection, we have asked Peter Lauritsen, a professor of information science at Aarhus University and researcher in the register society, to take us back to the beginning to understand how we ended up here.

Read also: How the CPR data breach was discovered: 'It is quite shocking' ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/saadan-blev-cpr-databrud-opdaget-det-er-ret-chokerende )

When Peter Lauritsen is to explain how people were registered before the CPR number was introduced in 1968, he rewinds time far back.

All the way back to the birth of Jesus, in fact.

Perhaps you remember from the Christmas gospel that "it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed."

- He wants to know how many people live in the Roman Empire and perhaps also something about what they earn, what they do, and so on, says Peter Lauritsen to P1 Morning.

Read also: Here are five things your CPR number can be (mis)used for ( https://www.dr.dk/verificerer/her-er-fem-ting-dit-cpr-nummer-kan-blive-mis-brugt-til )

It is an early example of a census. Something we also used here at home for several hundred years before the CPR register to record the population, Peter Lauritsen explains.

In the church books, the priest would additionally write a note when one was born, confirmed, engaged, married, and died. And in conscription rolls, there were lists of conscripts.

- So there have been a number of different technologies, all characterised by not being super effective if you want a central overview.

Therefore, a desire gradually arose to make the public sector more efficient.

And with the advent of EDP, data machines, electronic brains, and whatever else the brand-new information technology was called, it became possible in the 1960s to realise the idea of a central person register.

A desire to introduce withholding tax in Denmark became the final push, Peter Lauritsen explains. It is the type of tax system we know today, where our employer deducts the tax before we receive our salary.

Read also: After sticky fingers in the CPR tin: The system 'is a bit like a horse-drawn carriage, while others drive a Porsche' ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/efter-lange-fingre-i-cpr-daasen-systemet-svarer-lidt-til-en-hestevogn-hvor-andre-koerer-i-porsche )

- It is an efficient and fair tax system, and they want to introduce it. But in order to do so, you need to have a good handle on where people live, what they earn, and so on.

The CPR number was introduced in Denmark on 10 June 1968.

What is unique is that the number is linked to the person and not to a specific activity such as, for example, pension or tax.

Already a few years after the introduction of the CPR system, a debate arose about what the state can use all this information about citizens for, Peter Lauritsen explains.

- People fear that a totalitarian regime could emerge, or that misuse could occur by someone who does not have democratic ways of thinking and who could abuse this information.

These days, there is again discussion about whether the state should have information about all of us stored in a single system. But in general, the CPR system is actually not something we have discussed very much over the past 60 years, Peter Lauritsen explains.

This is because in Denmark we have greater trust in the state and the systems than, for example, Germany, where – due to the history of the persecution of Jews and the GDR's surveillance society – there is greater resistance to the state keeping a lot of information about citizens centrally.

Now 8.8 million CPR numbers have ended up in the wrong hands, and the Minister for Digitalisation, Christina Egelund (M), will look at whether the time has come to create an entirely new system.

But here, one must remember that the CPR system is "the backbone of the Danish welfare society" and built into an incredible number of systems, says Peter Lauritsen.

- So simply switching it from one day to the next is a practically difficult and, in my view, somewhat overwhelming task.

In addition, there are quite a few advantages to the system, he believes. It provides an efficient public sector and creates justice and fairness in both our tax collection and the way benefits are paid out.

Read also: 1,039 companies have had security tightened after the CPR leak ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/1039-virksomheder-har-faaet-indskaerpet-sikkerhed-efter-cpr-laek )

But the incident can give rise to a "significant tightening of security", he assesses.

- It is, of course, also a good idea, considering that we are in something resembling a hybrid war, where our digital systems in general are under pressure and under attack.

- We have a challenge with security in digital Denmark that we really need to take seriously, and which I also think we have begun to take seriously.

Hear the entire interview with Peter Lauritsen on P1 Morning:

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.