Abstract: System for identifying, for example, a person for operating an electrical appliance, a mechanical appliance or any other appliance.When the key (2) has been coupled to the electronic lock this first of all transmits, via circuit (18), a single pulse enabling the coded data originally contained in the passive memory formed by the set of switches (10) in the key to be loaded into the shift register (9). The shift register (9) is subsequently read by means of a succession of pulses transmitted by the serial reading circuit (20). The number of pulses corresponds to the number of bits in the shift register (9) owing to the existence of a read stop circuit (23) containing a pulse counter (42).In a variant some of the switches (10) can be replaced by fusible links, the state of which can be changed at will by a writing circuit contained in the electronic key.