United Arab Emirates
The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has announced that the single sign-on feature of the UAE PASS – the first national digital identity – has been introduced to the EmaraTax platform. Tax system registrants can use it in all procedures and services on the platform, available through the FTA website.
Abdulla Al Bastaki, Executive Director of the Information Technology Sector at the Federal Tax Authority said the launch forms part of the continuous development and upgrading of government services.
“The agreement also aims to offer an added value for users, allowing them to save time, cost, and effort while offering them faster processing time for services and increased flexibility of data communication,” he added.
Bulgaria
Bulgarian digital identity and trust services provider Evrotrust has raised €2.5 million from the growth equity investment arm of the Bulgarian Development Bank Group, Capital Investment Fund.
The financing comes prior to Evrotrust’s plans to raise Series A in 2023 and is aimed to help the startup become the leading identity-as-a-service provider in Europe.
Until the end of this year, Evrotrust will invest in product development and international growth and will expand its team by 30 percent.
Еvrotrust is a provider of qualified trust services that helps regulated businesses and government institutions to digitise their services. The company offers a technology solution for remote identity verification and secure qualified electronic signatures. The platform enables organisations to remotely identify, onboard, and provide services to their customers in a fast and convenient way.
Thailand
Thailand has issued a Royal Decree aimed at regulating business operators that provide digital identification authentication and verification services.
It includes an identity verification, an authenticator issuance and management service, authentication service and digital ID networks or systems.
Canada
Air Canada has launched digital identification, becoming the first airline in Canada with approval to offer passengers the option of using facial recognition technology to confirm identification.
In a pilot project currently underway, Air Canada’s digital identification is now available for travellers departing from Vancouver International Airport when boarding select flights to Winnipeg, and for eligible customers entering the Air Canada Café at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Air Canada plans to expand digital identification options to select Canadian airports and Maple Leaf Lounges as part of its pilot project phase.
Passengers who do not wish to utilise digital identification may simply board as normal by presenting their boarding pass and government-issued photo ID for manual check and processing. Likewise, customers may elect to continue scanning their boarding cards manually, as they do now to enter the Air Canada Café at Toronto Pearson.
United Kingdom
Only one percent of people without valid photo ID documents have registered for a new government-led scheme for voter ID, reports the BBC, ahead of photo ID becoming mandatory for local elections on May 4 and for any general elections from October. Digital ID from the likes of the Post Office and Yoti are not accepted.
The Voter Authority Certificate is a free document, issued by a voter’s local council, aimed at enabling the estimated two million people without valid ID a way to vote. Fewer than 25,000 people have applied so far, Biometric Updates reports.
There have been calls to delay the rollout of the photo ID requirement, which has been criticized for being rushed with councils unclear as to how to prepare to issue the certificates. The government has rejected the calls.
The move has been criticised for favouring older, wealthier and white people. The ID credentials typically held by young people are not on the list, such as student ID and young person’s travel and railcards. The equivalent cards for the over-60s are.
United Kingdom
A digital platform for ID checks is aiming to combat modern slavery and fake credentials.
Construct.id will show worker identity, qualifications and skills, in one place. It aims to unify the industry and is available for skilled workers, subcontractors and main contractors.
The platform is designed to address issues including modern slavery, data silos, lengthy onboarding, fake credentials and a lack of digital standards. The platform can also establish worker identity by providing free right-to-work checks to government standards.
Founders said the platform already has widespread backing. Contractor Willmott Dixon is an ambassador and has mandated it across its supply chain.
United States
More than 66 percent of Americans expect to have a Digital Identity Wallet by 2023, and 54 percent of consumers in all age groups prefer to use a Digital Wallet issued by a bank. Ease of use and loyalty options within preferred stores have emerged as the primary value-added features customers expect to see in their Digital Identity Wallets.
The Expert Group’s survey data shows that 66 percent of banks have already started issuing Digital Identity Wallets or will do so in the future. Through these wallets, banks can use credentials issued by other banks, third parties as well as governing bodies. If the digital identities for the wallets are managed by an Identity Provider (IDP), additional costs may be levied on banks for verification processes.
Kenya
Digital identity will be provided to all Kenyans by February, 2024 so they can more easily access government services, the country’s Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and the Digital Economy Eliud Owalo said during a recent Digital Summit in Mombasa carried by NTV Kenya.
He referred to the successes of digital identity programs in Estonia, Belgium, Pakistan and India, and suggested they are repeatable in Kenya.
Owalo said the digital identity would interact with the National Information Management System, and facilitate a central population database. All government-held data about Kenyans will be linked to the digital identity, and all public services will be available through digital channels.
The digital ID will be linked to the birth-to-death UPI, and NTV reports that the UPI will be used with the NEMIS school data platform. The same ID will also be used for the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
