DIACC brings digital wallet component of Pan-Canadian Trust Framework to public review

Under the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF), digital wallets should deliver on five key promises to enable trustworthy digital identity interactions, according to a framework proposal newly-published for public review.

The ‘PCTF Digital Wallet Component Overview’ has been published as a ‘Draft Recommendation v1.0’ by the Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC).

Digital wallets should preserve user privacy and control, provide a consistent and consent-driven automated experience, contribute to stable infrastructure with support for international technical standards, enable the replacement of legacy login mechanisms like passwords, and establish a trusted environment for interaction with various other ecosystem participants, according to the draft guidance.

The purpose of the digital wallet component of the PCTF “is to provide a framework that Digital Identity Ecosystem Participants can use to assess the degree to which the digital wallets that are part of their respective ecosystems accomplish the” above.

The document sets out the purpose, intended benefits and scope of the digital wallet standard, and defines important terminology and roles. Trust relationships and trusted processes are explained.

DIACC intends for Canadian digital wallets to store personal identity documents, but also information about relationships with other people or with organizations. They must also include encryption capabilities and signing keys for attribute verification in digital ID processes like KYC checks, and digital document signing. Payment and authentication data are optional features. The organization also notes that they are not necessarily limited to smartphones or even mobile devices, but can be implemented as progressive web apps or traditional web-hosted applications.

Biometrics are in scope, but otherwise not dealt with. Trusted Processes, as defined by the PCTF, are heavily reliant on Verifiable Credentials.

A recent survey from DIACC indicates a high level of support for digital ID in Canada, but also a common desire for user control.

In addition to seeking public comment, an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Review will be conducted.

DIACC’s Trust Framework Expert Committee crafted the proposal, for which comments are due by May 20, 2022.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Canada  |  data protection  |  DIACC  |  digital identity  |  digital wallets  |  identity document  |  identity verification  |  Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF)  |  standards  |  trust framework  |  verifiable credentials