Digital ID experts debate Swiss eID ahead of referendum

Switzerland is inching closer to a new referendum on introducing its national e-ID, scheduled for September 28th. The introduction of the 100 million francs (US$113.3 million) system has reignited old debates on data privacy and government surveillance, with some political options campaigning against the move.

The country will need to ensure that the e-ID is both secure and transparent, allowing individuals to stay in control of the data, while the wallet app needs to be built in a way that preserves privacy, says Daniel Säuberli, the president of the Digital Identity and Data Sovereignty Association (DIDAS).

Säuberli shared his views last week alongside Karim Nemr, chief business officer at PXL Vision, and Agnieszka Wyszyńska-Szulc from Philip Morris International at a roundtable organized by Euronews.

DIDAS has been working with the Swiss government to ensure users cannot be tracked through their digital identity.

“Switzerland actually works very hard in ensuring unlinkability of you moving across the web,” he says.

In certain cases, users might choose to reveal their name and in others, they might just want to confirm they are above the age of 18. In each of those transactions, there are digital or technical identifiers sent with the data and Switzerland makes sure that even those technical identifiers cannot be tracked from one service to another, he says.

Swiss citizens joining the referendum should focus on building a fundamental basis from which e-IDs can evolve, instead of a “perfect system,” Säuberli concluded.

“The eID certainly brings a certain level of assurance, because it’s bound to your device,” says Nemr. “You’re authenticated with your biometrics to access it and so on. So the issuance is done in a very secure way, so watertight, but nothing is 100 percent right?”

Nemr points out that many Swiss voters say they are in favor of a self-sovereign system, in which they have control over their digital ID without the involvement of any third parties. However, a completely self-sovereign system would require a decentralized system, which is “great from an ideological perspective, but it’s not practical,” he says.

Speakers also discussed the possibilities that the e-ID will bring, both to residents and organizations.

The e-ID could allow organizations a secure way for their products to reach the right consumer, according to Wyszyńska-Szulc, who serves as Philip Morris’s vice president of Regulatory, Product and ESG Policy and External Affairs.

“Obviously for the consumer, it also brings a lot of trust and confidence that they know that we operate on a robust system,” she says.

Another important use case for the e-ID is fighting the flood of AI-generated documents and deepfakes.

“Identity can create value in context with the AI information crisis that we are in,” says Säuberli. For example, how do we ensure that in the town square applications, we don’t have as many bots as we have today that actually shape public opinion?”

The creators of the e-ID should emphasize the consequences of rejecting such initiatives, says Wyszyńska-Szulc. They should illustrate the potential economic losses from falling behind in technology, as well as the missed opportunities for individuals. Digital identities offer much more than just identification—they also enable access to services like online banking, voting, and other government functions.

“All the doubt that is coming, I think it’s very legitimate and I think we need to take it very seriously, and we need to address it in a proper way, listening to what people in the referendum are saying,” she says.

Article Topics

data privacy  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  Digital Identity and Data Sovereignty Association (DIDAS)  |  e-ID  |  PXL Vision  |  self-sovereign identity  |  Switzerland