How to Order Masks using your Digital Citizen Certificate

 Taiwan offers a smart card to adult foreign residents that can be used to verify their identity online. This allows some government services previously only available in person to be provided online, including:

• Tax return submission
• Applying for credit reports
• Accessing healthcare data from the NHI
• Requesting a police check
• Certificate of Entry and Exit dates from the NIA
• Ordering Face Masks

Sounds great! However, the system relies on some ironically insecure/outdated technology, a mishmash of different browser plugins and very few support staff know about its existence. Here's a tip on how to use yours...

How to Order Masks using your Digital Citizen Certificate

During epidemics, Taiwan has a system where you can order surgical face masks online for delivery to your local convenience store. It's very straightforward and takes only a few minutes to order

1. Get a Digital Citizen Certificate and set it up in your card reader
2. Login to the eMask Ordering System by clicking the button under "Citizen Digital Certificate.
3. Click through the component check, installing any missing pieces if necessary
4. Enter your ID number, name, cell number, email and select the store you from which you wish to collect the masks
5. Within a week, the mask system will conduct a lottery and notify you by SMS how many masks you can collect and when to collect them.
6. Log back in to the eMask Ordering System to process payment
7. Go to your convenience store and follow the instructions of the staff