Nordic and Baltic countries need better cross-border digital identity matching: NOBID

Nordic and Baltic countries need better identity matching solutions to make cross-border digital identity a reality, concludes a new report from the Nordic-Baltic eID collaboration (NOBID).

The report tackles the question of how citizens from multiple countries in the region can access public and private services across the border. A large number of people are currently either living, working, studying, or traveling between countries such as Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. These people have created one of the largest cross-border personal datasets, carrying social benefits, health records and more.

All of these, however, are kept within individual countries’ records, often with no opportunity to identify a person by electronic identification. Currently, there are no EU-level cross-border processes to handle the situation where one person owns multiple eIDs issued or to assure that a person is successfully matched to the correct eID under different notified digital ID schemes, the report states.

“One of the main conclusions in the report is the need for better identity matching to handle challenges with cross-border digital identity,” says Dan Koivulaakso, head of the Department for Growth and Climate at the Nordic Council of Ministers. “This includes, among other things, the exchange of e-prescriptions and the recognition of professional qualifications, both of which are essential for mobility in the labor market and public services.”

As a project focused on enabling the use of national eID solutions across the Nordic and Baltic regions, NOBID has established a working group focusing on identity matching. Alongside the Cross Border Digital Services (CBDS) Programme, the group has analyzed the solutions that could solve cross-border interoperability and digital mobility in the region.

Best paths forward

The report outlined 10 potential paths forward. One of them is “bonding,” a process in which backend systems of two countries interact to perform 1:1 biometric verification or identification as part of the identity matching process. The authors, however, conclude that among possible solutions, the eIDASNode+ is the most promising.

“eIDASNode+ should be implemented in all Nordic-Baltic countries, as a common approach, adding the other three described possibilities to that, depending on the country’s specific needs,” the research concludes.

“Every foreign identity will be assigned a local personal identification number. After authentication with eID mean[s] through eIDAS node e-services approach local identity matching service for retrieval of local personal identification number of user,” the report explains.

Other promising processes include Easy_EAA, QuickFix and Hard_EAA.

The report also highlights the need to update and harmonize the eIDAS regulation, which governs electronic identification and trust services in the EU.

NOBID work is aided by consulting companies Civitta and SK ID Solutions.

The consortium is also leading one of the EU’s large-scale digital wallet pilots.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  eIDAS  |  Europe  |  interoperability  |  Nordic-Baltic eID collaboration (NOBID)