SPID and CIE: what they are for and when you need them

What SPID and CIE actually are

Giuliana is 66 and lives in Cinisello Balsamo. On a Tuesday morning a message lands: to see her INPS position she has to go online. She opens the website and finds herself facing two words: SPID and CIE. «Are they the same thing?» she asked us in the office, phone in hand. The answer is no, and knowing the difference saves you an hour of trying things that go nowhere.

SPID — which stands for Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale, the Public System of Digital Identity — is your online identity: an account with a username and password that lets the Public Administration recognise you. One single login for every digital service: INPS, the Agenzia delle Entrate, the town hall, schools, the local health authority. It is issued by a digital identity provider accredited by AgID: Poste Italiane, a bank, a mobile operator or one of the many approved operators. The provider is your choice.

The CIE — Carta d'Identità Elettronica, the electronic identity card — is first of all your identity document: a plastic card with a small chip, issued by the town hall registry office. Inside the chip sits your digital identity, and that is why the CIE also works as a key to the same online services you would use SPID for. In practice: anyone who already has an electronic identity card in their wallet already has a digital key, without having to ask anyone for anything.

What they are really for: the sign-ins of everyday life

Back to Giuliana. What did she actually need that Tuesday? Seeing her pension payslip, downloading the Certificazione Unica and checking the status of a claim. All of it now goes through an online sign-in. Here is where you will use them yourself, week in, week out:

• INPS: your contribution record, payslips, pensions, benefit claims, NASpI, the single allowance. With your personal sign-in you see only your own data, kept private.
• Agenzia delle Entrate: the pre-filled 730, the Redditi return, F24 payments, refunds and your tax position.
• Comune di Cinisello Balsamo: civil registry certificates, bookings, applying for and renewing your identity card.
• Health service and the local health authority: prescriptions, specialist bookings, your medical records.
• INAIL, schools, universities and every other portal that today asks you to «Sign in with SPID or CIE».
• Even at our patronato's online desk: when we open a case for you, your digital identity is what authorises access to your data.

One detail many people discover too late: the old INPS PIN no longer works. PINs issued by the Institute lost their validity on 30 September 2021, as set out in INPS circular no. 127 of 12 August 2021. To sign in to your personal area today you need SPID, CIE or the CNS, the Carta Nazionale dei Servizi. Anyone who still has a scrap of paper with six handwritten digits in a drawer, unfortunately, has to start from here.

SPID or CIE: the differences and how to choose

SPID: the account you take everywhere

SPID lives on your phone and on your computer. You activate it once, then sign in with a username, a password and a second check: a code that arrives by SMS, a message in an authenticator app, or your fingerprint. That double key is exactly what makes it secure. There are three security levels: level 1 uses the password alone, level 2 adds the second check and is the most widely used, level 3 requires a hardware device. For most people, level 2 is perfectly fine.

CIE: the document that becomes a key

The CIE is used with the PIN the town hall gives you: on a computer with a smart card reader, or on a smartphone with NFC and the CieID app. Here there is no account to remember: the key is the card already in your wallet. Watch the expiry date: the electronic identity card lasts 10 years for adults, 5 years for minors between 3 and 18, 3 years under the age of 3. When it expires, you renew it at the town hall.

Which one to choose

The good news is that you do not have to choose: you can have both and decide each time. A practical rule, the sort we see work well at the counter:

• If you already have the electronic identity card: try the CIE first, you do not have to activate anything new.
• If you do not have a CIE, or you get on better with your phone: activate SPID, it is the quickest route to the sign-ins of everyday life.
• If you often use the home computer and do not want to remember passwords: the CIE in your pocket is convenient, hold it up to the phone and you are in.
• If you are unsure what to do: ask us. In five minutes we will tell you the shortest route for your case.

How to get them, step by step

Two different routes: SPID is requested from a private accredited provider, the CIE from the town hall. Neither is complicated, but each has its own steps and its own timings.

Activating SPID

Start by choosing a digital identity provider accredited by AgID: there are dozens of them, from Poste Italiane to banks, from mobile operators to specialist providers. You then fill in the application on the website of the provider you chose. Here is what you need and what to expect:

• A valid identity document, your tax code, and an email address and mobile number registered in your name.
• The identity check is done by video call, through the provider's app or in person at an authorised office: it depends on the provider.
• The cost depends on the provider: some issue the credentials free of charge, others ask for a small fee, especially when the check is done in person. The price list is public: check it before you start.
• At the end you receive your username and password and switch on the second check, by SMS or with an authenticator app. From then on you can sign in to every public website.

Applying for the CIE

The electronic identity card is requested from the registry office of the town hall where you live — for anyone in Cinisello Balsamo, the Comune's anagrafe office — always by appointment. The step-by-step is short:

• Book the appointment and bring the documents listed when you book: normally the document you are renewing and your tax code.
• The issue cost is €16.79, plus fixed and secretarial duties where they apply.
• When you apply they hand you the PIN: keep it somewhere safe, it is what lets you use the card as a digital key.
• The card arrives in the following days, usually delivered at home by Poste Italiane or collected from the town hall.

If the sign-in does not work: what to do

The forgotten password, the SPID that locks after three attempts, the card the reader will not read: it happens, and it is almost always sorted in ten minutes. Here are the situations that come up most often and how to get out of them.

• Forgotten password: use the recovery link from your SPID provider, which walks you through it step by step. Do not guess: after a few mistakes the account is locked for safety.
• SPID locked or phone number changed: call your provider's support line. If you have changed number, you often have to repeat the identity check.
• CIE not being read: check that NFC is switched on in your phone and that the CieID app is up to date, then hold the card against the back of the phone and keep still for a few seconds.
• Forgotten CIE PIN: it is recovered at the town hall, taking the card with you.
• The code never arrives: check your signal; if you use an authenticator app, open that instead of waiting for the SMS.

And if technology really is not for you? INPS has made room for a human route: anyone who cannot use the online services independently can authorise a trusted person through the «Gestione delle deleghe all'identità digitale», the same INPS circular no. 127 of 2021 that closed the era of the PIN. And here in the office it works the other way round: many practices are handled with our delegation, with your document and tax code to hand, without you having to sign in anywhere.

Here at our patronato in Cinisello Balsamo: what you actually need

Marco came to our office in Via Oreste Terenghi convinced he had to activate SPID first for his mother's pension case. He did not: with a document, a tax code and a signed delegation, we opened the case for him. «I wasted two weeks finding things out for nothing», he said on the way out. It happens often, and it is why this guide exists.

The truth is that SPID and CIE matter to you when you want to sign in yourself. When you need a benefit — pension, 730, ISEE, single allowance, residence permit — you can rely on our patronato and we are the ones who act for you, with whatever delegation is required. The office is open Monday to Friday, 9:30–12:30 and 15:00–19:00, at Via Oreste Terenghi 21/23, 20092 Cinisello Balsamo (MI).

• A valid identity document and tax code, yours and those of the person you are acting for.
• The delegation or power of attorney required for that benefit: we explain it to you when you call, you do not have to study anything on your own.
• If you have them, bring your digital credentials too: in some cases signing in directly speeds everything up.
• The documents for the case: every benefit has its own list, which we give you over the phone before you come.

Conversely, if your aim is precisely to manage your own sign-ins — see the payslip, download the Certificazione Unica, check the pre-filled 730 — then SPID or CIE are exactly what you need. And if you are afraid of getting the first step wrong, come in: phone in hand, us beside you, and the first sign-in is done together.

The questions we are asked most often

The five questions that come up most often at the counter. If yours is not here, call us: in five minutes you will know what you need.