In an earlier article, published in issue one of the Journal, author Sjef Broekhaar explained how the issuing authorities of the European Union are organised. In this article, he focuses on the identification process, which is intrinsically linked to the issuance of travel documents. How do we define identity? How do we register an identity? And which information does an identity consist of? Sjef Broekhaar (1955) is Research & Development Manager at the Personal Records and Travel Documents Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations. He is an expert in the field of document research and gives (inter)national lectures on the subject. Sjef originated and developed Edison TD: an electronic database that facilitates applications for international travel documents.