Editorial

Digital Identity: Global Roundup

Digital identity news from around the world

Posted 11 March 2024 by Christine Horton


Nepal

The Nepalese government will maintain the digital identity of its citizens starting from early childhood as it starts assigning national ID numbers to children during birth registration.

The Department of National ID and Civil Registration wants to pave the way for wider adoption of the national identity cards that could replace citizenship certificates in the future.

The national ID is a federal identity card issued by the Department of National ID and Civil Registration with a unique number assigned to each person. Nepali citizens can obtain the cards based on their biometric and demographic data. The card features a unique number, photo, personal information and the bearer’s fingerprints.

The department claims that the biometric smart card will have several uses and that officials can read it using secure terminals.

Along with the initiative, the government plans to speed up the national ID card distribution, says the Kathmandu Post.

Tuvalu

Tuvalu, A Pacific island nation halfway between Australia and Hawaii, is exploring a digital identity system to connect the diaspora, and a digital passport so citizens can register births, deaths and marriages, and participate in polls and other events.

The island has also completed a detailed 3D scan of its 124 islands and islets, which will be the basis for creating a digital clone of itself, in response to the continuing impact of climate change.

“We are taking these practical steps because we must … ensuring our continuing sovereignty in the face of a worst-case scenario,” said Simon Kofe, minister of justice, communication and foreign affairs.

Europe

The European Union Parliament voted in favour of Digital ID regulation.

Aimed at establishing a unified standard for digital identity services across all member states, this regulation mandates the provision of digital wallets to residents by 2026. These digital wallets are designed to securely store personal attributes such as driving licences and national ID cards, facilitating seamless access to public and private services.

The regulation now moves to the EU Council of Ministers for formal endorsement.

The European gaming industry has voiced its support for the EU’s digital identity scheme. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) says the regulation will improve consumer trust by doing away with the need for third-party commercial authentication providers.

Europe

Also in Europe, the European Interoperability Framework has gained formal recognition to align more efficient digital public services across the EU interconnecting digital public administrations. The Council has now adopted the rounded legislation to drive a high level of interoperability across public digital services.

The regulation, like eIDAS, aims to set key commitments towards the EU’s digital transformation in terms of establishing shared interoperability solutions for digital and identity services.

A cooperation framework for EU public administrations will be drawn up to specifically enhance the seamless delivery of public services across borders.

China

A proposal has been made to limit the widespread use of facial recognition technology in the tourism sector, particularly in hotels and other accommodations. The excessive implementation of facial recognition has reportedly affected the quality of hospitality services, led to tourist complaints, and increased operational costs for businesses. The proposal calls for a reassessment of the public security sector’s mandates regarding facial recognition, advocating for informed consent and legal compliance in its application.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is considering the implementation of biometric verification for individuals purchasing SIM cards to enhance cybersecurity and counter terrorism. This proposal was discussed amid concerns over cybercrimes, with suggestions also including restrictions on the number of SIM cards an individual can own and the prohibition of SIM card registration via foreign phone numbers.

United Kingdom

As much as £230 million will be designated by the UK government to be spent on drones and facial recognition for police, “among other time and money saving technology.” The allocation was revealed by Jeremy Hunt, chancellor of the Exchequer, during his annual address on Wednesday, according to The Daily Mail, via Biometric Update.

Part of the budget will be allocated to the increased use of AI tools like facial recognition.

“Police officers waste around eight hours a week on unnecessary admin. With higher productivity, we could free up time equivalent to 20,000 officers over a year,” said Hunt.

However, Madeleine Stone, senior advocacy officer at Big Brother Watch said that “Wasting millions of pounds on intrusive and inefficient facial recognition will not fix the UK’s broken criminal justice system.”

Stone noted that the EU’s AI Act restricts police use of biometrics in surveillance, but the UK’s government is instead “following in the footsteps of authoritarian states like China and Russia.”

Asia

Identity verification firm IDfy has raised $27m in a recent investment round to expand its operations across Asia.

IDfy currently serves enterprises across India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, and supports more than 60 million verifications each month

The new infusion of capital is earmarked for accelerating IDfy’s growth, with plans to expand its offerings and enhance product development.

Tunisia

The Tunisian parliament has voted in favour of two draft laws on biometric identity cards and passports.

The Rights and Liberties Committee of the Assembly of the People’s Representatives approved the Biometric ID and Passport Laws at the end of February. The draft laws were adopted with an overwhelming majority voting in favour, business news agency Zawya reports.

Lawmakers also voted to dismiss an amendment that would prevent the Tunisian Ministry of Interior from building a centralized biometric database, brought to the Parliament one day before the vote.

Spain

Spain’s privacy watchdog has ordered for Worldcoin, the company created by OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, that scans eyeballs to make digital identity documents (IDs) in exchange for crypto, to cease its operations in the country for three months amid concerns over what it is doing with users’ personal information.

The goal of Worldcoin is to give people a form of identification that could never be stolen or duplicated.

But Spanish data protection authority (AEPD) has ordered Worldcoin’s parent company, Tools for Humanity Corporation, to stop collecting personal data and keep hold of all information already collected.

The agency said it had received complaints against the company that ranged from gathering the personal information of minors to not allowing for people to withdraw their consent from sharing personal data.

In response, Worldcoin has filed a lawsuit against AEPD.

Malaysia

Civil servants can begin registering for the National Digital Identity (MyDigital ID) online from next week before it is expected to be open to the public.

Malaysia’s national applied research and development centre under the Ministry of Science, Technology And Innovation is called Mimos Berhad. Its acting president and CEO, Saat Shukri Embong, said users would need to download the MyDigital ID app on PlayStore or Apple Store to register.

“We have obtained Cabinet approval last week to conduct the online registration. The decision to carry out online registrations as opposed to the previous manual process was made after gathering feedback from various parties, including legal bodies and ministries relating to compliance with Acts covering personal data protection and such matters,” Embong  told Bernama.

45,000 civil servants have registered for the MyDigital ID manually so far, with the first being Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Germany

Biometrics specialist BioID has announced a new release of its Deepfake Detection technology.

The firm was among the first in the industry to introduce deepfake detection as an integral part of its Liveness Detection API in 2023 and has now published a new release.

BioID Deepfake Detection is specifically designed to secure digital identity verification from fraud. It discerns whether a face found in an image or video is a deepfake/AI-generated/AI-manipulated, or an original photo. This critical capability helps prevent criminals from overcoming digital identity verification by impersonating someone using a deepfake.

BioID has incorporated its Deepfake Detection technology into the existing BioID Web Service, specifically the Liveness Detection API. This integration enhances BioID’s anti-spoofing offering, combining both Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) and Deepfake Detection capabilities.

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