Global
Around 850 million people in the world still do not have an official ID. At the same time, some of those that have an ID struggle with a lack of control over privacy and data, according to a new report by the World Economic Forum.
The report also noted that the biggest risks from digital identification are “exclusion, marginalisation and oppression.”
“Sensitive data, such as biometric data, carry a high risk of exploitation,” said the report. This is particularly worrying in the case of marginalized communities such as refugees because it can facilitate discriminatory targeting”.
The Reimagining Digital ID report lays out 24 recommendations for government officials, regulators and executives, defining risks such as data exploitation, political and technical risks. The best policy, the report notes, is to not collect highly sensitive data such as ethnic affiliation at all, as these are likely vectors for marginalisation or oppression.
Japan
There are objections to the planned replacement of health insurance cards next year with the Japanese government’s My Number digital IDs. Japanese doctors have taken the government to court to fight the mandatory replacement of health insurance cards, arguing it is expensive to implement.
Additionally, some residents discovered their ID cards linked to unrelated personal information. In response, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government will improve program procedures and operations, including eligibility documentation.
Parliament has enacted a law June 2 effectively mandating My Number IDs to access health care as of fall 2024, the Japan Times reports via Biometric Update. The IDs are already linked to tax and social security records, as well as some bank accounts.
Australia
The federal government has released a National Strategy for Identity Resilience, which sets out a battle plan for how all states and territories can protect identities.
It will see Australians use biometric data such as an image of their face to verify their identity online under a government plan to fight cybercrime.
All Australian state governments have agreed to 10 principles, which will guide their approach. Among them, the strategy says Australian governments will use biometrics – with individuals’ consent – to make it harder for criminals to misuse personal credentials.
Nigeria
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made the digital ID and social media handles of bank customers a mandatory requirement for the Know Your Customer (KYC) policy in the financial industry going forward.
The regulation, signed by the CBN Director, Financial Policy and Regulations Department, Chibuzo Efobi, was aimed at bolstering compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) provisions while aligning with international best practices.
Under the Social Media Handles Under Section 6 (IV) of the new regulation, financial institutions operating under the regulatory purview of the CBN are now obligated to collect and verify customers’ social media handles as part of their KYC process.
Scotland
A pilot with Disclosure Scotland is providing valuable insight to Scotland’s digital identity service, ScotAccount.
ScotAccount went live in ‘private beta’ partnership with Disclosure Scotland at the end of February 2023. ScotAccount has been integrated into Disclosure Scotland’s new online service, providing users with digital access to their disclosure results.
“The pilot is providing us with valuable insight into how ScotAccount performs in a live environment and is informing how we prioritise service improvements,” said David Duncan-Fraser, service lead, ScotAccount Operations, in a blog.
“We are planning and prioritising a range of next steps in the development of the service, including introducing additional means for two factor authentication, such as using codes sent to landline telephones.
“Additionally, we are building another core component called ‘MySafe’ – where users can choose to store verified personal information, for reuse elsewhere in the future. The data that is stored, will be held securely and only ever be accessible by the individual and those that they consent to share it with. Initially, MySafe will be used to store the results of the identity check for reuse with other public services, thus saving time and effort for users who would only need to verify their identity once and reducing costs for the public sector.”
Nigeria
Nigeria’s National Identity Management Authority (NIMC) says it is intensifying efforts to get more citizens and legal residents in the country to enrol their biometrics for the National Identification Number (NIN).
Figures from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveal that the number of NINs issued climbed by 400 percent within a period of one year. The number of new NINs rose from five million in 2020 to 27 in 2021, per the NBS.
Kuwait
Plans by the Kuwaiti government to identity all citizens and legal residents by capturing their fingerprint biometrics are reportedly also advancing rapidly, with nearly 530,000 people already enrolled.
The Interior Ministry is said to be working to open five more registration centers in busy commercial areas to enable more people show up for enrolment without any prior appointment. For the other centres however, registration is done by appointments, the report notes.
United Kingdom
Yoti and Mitek have teamed up with Synectics Solutions to develop a system in which the UK’s Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) can share data about compromised credentials, accounts, and identities. Dubbed Project Shield, the aim is to establish a proof of concept “shared signals co-ordination platform” that essentially lets companies providing identity services share intelligence concerning identity fraud.
Synectics Solutions is a UK Government Specified Anti-Fraud Organisation. Yoti and Mitek are both IDSPs (the latter via its subsidiary HooYu) in the UK’s regulatory framework for identity verification technologies.
Sri Lanka
The State Minister of Technology Kanaka Herath informed the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Technology that the Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Project for the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity Project (SL-UDI) is underway.
Under this project, biographic and biometric information, facial, iris and fingerprint will be collected and entered into a central system for the purpose of issuing identification cards.
Additionally, digitalising information under one identification number in all documents starting from the birth certificate was discussed at length at the at the first meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Technology.
The officials stated that though the proposal to do so has already been adopted and is in progress, the mechanism of execution has caused it to be frozen. The Committee suggested that rather than trying to digitize past documents which cause delays and backlogs, to skip the past generations and begin fresh from one batch which will allow it to move forward.
Europe
The EU has reached a provisional political agreement on the core elements of a new framework for a European digital identity (eID).
The revised regulation aims to ensure universal access for people and businesses to secure and trustworthy electronic identification and authentication by means of a personal digital wallet on a mobile phone.
It said that at least 80 percent of EU citizens should be able to use a digital ID solution to access key public services by 2030.
United States
US organisations are ready to embrace decentralised identity according to a research report from Curity, an API-focussed identity and access management company. Sxty-two percent of US organisations surveyed said they will introduce decentralised identity solutions into their operations with 74 percent of them planning to do so within the next year.
Curity’s report reveals two thirds of consumers currently use digital wallets. Additionally, the report found almost half (46 percent) of consumers believed new developments in digital identity such as digital identity wallets would give them enhanced security and greater autonomy over their data.
United Kingdom
HM Land Registry has said it is working towards the linking of electronic signatures and digital identities within the same tools.
It has said this is part of its ongoing work on the former and could lead to the use of certified identities that are compliant with its own and anti-money laundering standards, reports UK Authority.
Product owner Michael Abraham said in a blogpost that a new tool linking the two could be used by conveyancers and clients, saving them from having to use different apps for identity checking and electronic signatures.
