Custom ECK iD integration development
The ECK iD is a chain pseudonym for pupils and teachers in primary, secondary and secondary vocational education. It is generated by Nummervoorziening, a public service of Kennisnet, and lets schools and suppliers of digital learning materials recognise someone without exchanging more personal data than necessary. Appfront builds the integration that brings the ECK iD into your learning resource, platform or school administration system: linking accounts, assigning permissions and returning results to the right pupil.
What is an ECK iD integration?
An ECK iD integration makes your system recognise pupils and teachers by their ECK iD instead of by name, date of birth or email address. According to Kennisnet, the ECK iD is a chain pseudonym: schools and suppliers use it to grant access to digital learning materials without using all personal data. It is generated by Nummervoorziening from the personal identification number, in a process between the school's administration system and Nummervoorziening. The ECK iD stays the same if a school switches to a different administration system or learning platform, and it carries an indicator showing whether it concerns primary, secondary or secondary vocational education.
The ECK iD is part of the Edu-K agreements, the public-private platform for the educational content chain in which the PO-Raad, VO-raad, MBO Raad, GEU, KBb-E, VDOD and Kennisnet work together. In primary education it has been the key for exchanging data between school systems and suppliers since August 2020. School boards conclude a user agreement and a data processing agreement with Kennisnet via eHerkenning, and the ECK iD is part of the standard attribute set of Entree Federatie. Suppliers of student information systems register with Nummervoorziening; suppliers of learning resources contact the ECK iD implementation programme. Kennisnet checks that content suppliers have signed the Privacy Covenant for Education.
We build custom because the ECK iD only has value once your own system is set up for it. Existing accounts need to be linked to an ECK iD, licences and classes need to align with the iD, and result feedback needs to find the right pupil without a name. The start of the school year, when pupils change school or sector, also calls for careful handling. In the first step we establish with you what role you have in the chain and through which facility the ECK iD reaches you.
Less data
Recognition without a name.
Lasting
The same iD after a switch.
Back to school
Results on the right pupil.
How we build your ECK iD integration
We start with your role in the chain: do you supply learning resources, a platform or an administration system, which personal data do you currently use to recognise pupils, and which can you drop. Then we decide how the ECK iD reaches you, for example via Entree Federatie or via the school, and how existing accounts are linked to it. We first build the recognising and linking of accounts and test it with test accounts and a participating school. Licences, classes and returning results follow once that works well. After that we maintain the integration whenever the Edu-K agreements or the facilities change.
Chain, data, facilities.
Accounts to the ECK iD.
Based on the iD.
Go-live, monitoring and maintenance per school year.
What an ECK iD integration actually does
The components below appear in almost every ECK iD integration. Which ones you need depends on your role in the chain and on the data you currently process.
Receiving
ECK iD at login.
Linking
Existing accounts to the iD.
Minimise
Unnecessary data removed.
Licences
Access based on the iD.
Results
Back to the school.
Log
Every integration traceable.
Who we build an ECK iD integration for
The integration is for parties in the educational content chain that currently still identify pupils and teachers by personal data, or that do receive the ECK iD but do little with it in their own system. The more schools and users, the more it delivers.
Publishers
Learning resources on the ECK iD.
Learning platforms
Accounts linked without names.
Student information system suppliers
Connection to Nummervoorziening.
School boards
Your own applications on the iD.
Technology and integrations
This page is about processing the ECK iD in your own system. For pupil and teacher login, where the ECK iD comes along as an attribute, see our page on the Entree Federatie integration. For messaging in education according to the Edukoppeling agreements, read more about the Edukoppeling integration, and for learning results between learning resource and school, about the UWLR integration. If you are looking for a broader system for your education organisation, take a look at education ERP. You can read about our approach on custom software development.
Why Appfront for your ECK iD integration?
A learning resource that recognises pupils by name and email address, an account that has to be recreated after a pupil changes school, or a result that ends up with the wrong pupil: all of it costs schools time and undermines trust in digital learning resources. That is what we build on: recognition with less data, integrations that survive a change of school, and a log in which you can see what happened.
Privacy
Fewer personal data needed.
Stable
Accounts stay linked.
Traceable
Every link recorded.
Security and privacy in an ECK iD integration
The integration processes data of pupils, often children, and strict rules apply to that under the GDPR and the agreements in the Privacy Covenant for Education. The ECK iD is meant to exchange less data, and the integration follows that: it stores only what is needed for access, licences and results, and records every link with time and outcome.
The integration runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage. Keys and certificates are shielded and not visible to staff. Which data you no longer need after the switch to the ECK iD, and how to delete it, we discuss with you beforehand, and where necessary in line with the data processing agreement you have with schools.
Frequently asked questions about an ECK iD integration
Questions that publishers, learning platform suppliers and school boards ask before they get started.
A chain pseudonym for pupils and teachers in primary, secondary and vocational education. It is created by Nummervoorziening, a public service of Kennisnet, and makes it possible to recognise someone when they use digital learning material without exchanging all their personal data.
Nummervoorziening of Kennisnet generates the ECK iD on the basis of the personal number. This happens in a process between the school's administration system and Nummervoorziening. The school board concludes a user agreement and a data processing agreement with Kennisnet for this.
No. According to Kennisnet, the ECK iD stays the same if a school chooses a different student administration system or learning platform. As a result, accounts do not have to be rebuilt after a switch.
According to Kennisnet, the ECK iD is part of the standard attribute set of Entree Federatie, so suppliers who are permitted to process it receive it via Entree. Learning resource suppliers contact the ECK iD implementation programme before introducing it.
Kennisnet checks that educational content suppliers have signed the Privacyconvenant Onderwijs (Education Privacy Covenant) and meet the legal requirements for using the ECK iD. Suppliers of student administration systems register with Nummervoorziening and receive agreements for this.
An Entree Federatie integration handles how students and teachers log in to your service. An ECK iD integration is about what your system does with the ECK iD afterwards: linking accounts, assigning licences and returning results, without relying on names or email addresses.
For suppliers and platforms with many schools or users, with accounts that are still tied to personal data, or with results that need to go back to the school. If you use a standard solution that already handles the ECK iD fully, configuring it is often enough.
Want to handle the ECK iD properly in your system?
Tell us what role you play in the chain and how you currently recognise students. We'll show you how an ECK iD integration handles that with less data.