Questions about the photo on the electronic health care card

It's easy to submit your photo:

• Register in our online self-service branch Meine SBK - via the Meine SBK app or at meine.sbk.org/login.
• You can then take your photo directly in the Meine SBK app in "My data" under "Upload photo" or upload an existing picture.

You do not need to go to the photo studio, a selfie is sufficient. It is important that you are clearly recognizable in the photo - without sunglasses, without a hat and without other people.

If you wish to send us your photo by post, please contact your personal consultant. They will then send you a response card for sending the photo. This is important so that your photo can be correctly assigned by us using the postal address.

No. In order to ensure the required level of data security and uniquely identify you, we need more: a signature on the response card for your photo or a registration with your personal area of Meine SBK (your personal online self-service branch).

In order for your photo to be accepted for the electronic health care card (eGK), the following criteria must be met:

• Make sure you look directly at the camera and your face is positioned in the centre of the photo. 
• There must be a significant contrast between the background and your face and hair. The background should be light and neutral. 
• Your photo should be in focus in all areas and be uniformly exposed with a bright light. There should be no shadows. 
• No other people or objects may be visible in the photo. 
• Your face should be fully visible and your head should be uncovered. If you wear a head covering for religious reasons, your face should still be clearly visible. 
• Use a colour or black-and-white photo in portrait format. 
• The file format for uploading your photo onto the online service, Meine SBK, must be jpg, bmp or tif. The maximum file size is 2 MB.

Unfortunately we cannot reimburse the costs of taking the photo. But the photo for your electronic health care card does not need to be a professional product. A photo taken at home is sufficient, provided it meets the requirements (see next question).

Just contact your personal consultant. They will send you a letter with a response card. Glue your photo onto this card and send it back to us. This is important so that your photo can be correctly assigned by us using the postal address.

Yes. In exceptional cases – for health reasons, for example, or if a customer is not mobile – no photo needs to be submitted. The electronic health care card will be issued without a photo for these customers.

We are permitted to use your photo for the SBK healthcare card for 10 years. After that, we are obliged to delete your photo. In order for us to be able to send you an SBK healthcare card after 10 years, please submit a current photo of yourself. The easiest way to do this is in Meine SBK. There you can simply submit a current photo in "My data" under "Upload photo".

Upload photo

Within 3 weeks of us receiving your photo, you will receive your new NFC-enabled SBK healthcare card with the new photo. You can also use digital services such as the SBK electronic health record with this card.

No. Your photo just needs to meet the requirements specified above.

The photos are deleted after a retention period of six months following the end of insurance with SBK, if no new insurance is taken out during this time.

You will receive a notification of the successful transmission immediately after uploading your photo – at that point we have received your photo. We will then check whether the photo meets the requirements. This may take several days. If we cannot use the photo, we will send you a message.

The browser settings on your computer must allow cookies. 

If you spend too much time in the upload application, the process may be interrupted and only a white page can be seen. In this case simply restart the upload process.

It may be that your email client (Outlook or Thunderbird, for example) does not permit links to websites. In this case, simply enter ‘meine.sbk.org’ directly in the address line of your browser and register on or log into Meine SBK.

Yes. You can use one email address for multiple users. 

Please note that the uploaded photo is always assigned to the registered insurance number. If you wish to upload photos for the entire family, registration with the correct insurance number is necessary in each case.

Some image files cannot be processed by our system. Usually it works if you open the image in a program for displaying images – a ‘viewer’ (such as Paint) – and save the image again.

Paint is installed as standard on Windows computers. You can find Paint by going to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Paint.

Yes, you can upload photos, as long as JavaScript is enabled.

The last photo to be uploaded is used for the electronic health care card. Previously uploaded photos are discarded.

The provisions of the German Social Security Code (SGB) apply to both the electronic health care card and the photo required for the card. In accordance with Section 15 Para. 6 SBG V, every insurant receives an electronic healthcare card. 

Under Section 291 Para. 2 Clause 4 SGB V, the electronic health care card must have a photo. Section 284 Para. 1 No. 2 SGB V stipulates that the health insurer is entitled to collect and store the photo in order to issue the electronic health care card.

Your photo will only be stored and used for the healthcare card. SBK will transfer your photo to external service providers for quality assurance and to create your healthcare card. These service providers have agreed to uphold special obligations for protecting social security data.

As soon as you click on ‘Upload photo’, you will leave the SBK home page and be redirected to the content of an external provider. SBK is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Information about the data processed by SBK can be found at www.sbk.org/privacy or from your personal consultant.