2D-Doc verification: check a document’s authenticity

The 2D-Doc is the signed Datamatrix barcode printed on French proofs of address, tax notices, energy and phone bills, national ID cards and many other official documents. Verifying a 2D-Doc tells you within seconds whether a document was really issued by the stated organisation and whether its data has been tampered with.

Technology proven at national scale

VDS Verify is one of the 2D-Doc reader apps recognised by France Titres. It is published by Stelau. The French State uses Stelau’s Visible Digital Seal (VDS) technology in production:

• France Titres (ANTS): the official 2D-Doc verification service uses our API.
• France Identité: our verification SDK ships in the France Identité app, used by more than 5 million people, and France Identité uses our API to issue the seals on its identity proofs.

How to verify a 2D-Doc for free

1. Download VDS Verify. It is free and needs no account, on iPhone or Android.
2. Scan the 2D-Doc code on the document, printed on paper or shown on a screen.
3. Read the result: the app shows whether the signature is valid, along with the signed data and the certificate details.
4. Compare the decoded data with what is printed on the document. Any difference means the document was falsified.

What a 2D-Doc check verifies

A 2D-Doc holds the document’s key data (name, address, amount, date…) and the issuer’s electronic signature. Verification means:

• decoding the Datamatrix and its header (version, certificate authority, certificate, document type);
• fetching the issuer’s certificate from the ANTS Trusted Service List (TSL);
• checking the certificate’s validity (dates, revocation);
• cryptographically verifying the signature over the data.

If any of these steps fails, the document should not be considered authentic.

Documents carrying a 2D-Doc or VDS

• Proofs of address: energy (electricity, gas), phone and internet bills
• Income tax notices
• French national ID card
• France Identité identity proof
• Restricted information statement (RIR) and driving entitlement certificate (ADCS)
• Recreational boat licence
• Crit’Air sticker

2D-Doc, VDS, AFNOR and ISO 22376: the standards

The 2D-Doc was created by ANTS (now France Titres) and standardised by AFNOR (XP Z42-101 to 104). It evolved into the Visible Digital Seal defined by AFNOR XP Z42-105, then by the international standard ISO 22376:2023. VDS Verify supports all three formats.

2D-Doc verification for businesses: API and SDK

To verify 2D-Docs at scale (KYC, rental applications, lending, HR) or to issue and sign your own seals, Stelau offers:

• an API to create, sign, decode and verify VDS, compliant with AFNOR XP Z42-105 and ISO 22376:2023, HSM and qualified certificate ready;
• a mobile verification SDK, already deployed to more than 5 million users through France Identité.

Contact us for a demo.

Frequently asked questions

See the FAQ to learn more about VDS, supported documents and data privacy.