OECD suggests measures to strengthen Chile’s digital ID rollout strategy

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says Chile has already recorded substantial progress in the implementation of its national digital ID system, but there’s a lot more the country can do to successfully implement its strategy.

The OECD recommendations are outlined in a report, titled “Implementing Chile’s National Digital Identity Strategy: Insights from country experiences.”

Chile’s digital ID (ClaveÚnica) was first introduced in 2010, but officially recognized as a unified national digital ID credential in 2017. Idemia was contracted in 2022 to support the ID system upgrade and expansion.

While the system is already being used by over 15 million people to access over 1,700 online public services, many challenges remain such as “rising digital fraud, fragmented regulatory coverage, and dispersed governance limiting cross-sector interoperability and adoption,” according to the OECD.

To fix these and other problems, the policy paper notes that Chile must double down on some of the measures already being implemented, while introducing others which are yet to be considered.

Among other things, the paper calls on Chile’s government to broaden stakeholder engagement in governance of the digital ID and include regulated KYC sectors which is vital in fostering cross-sectoral alignment, bolster institutional leaders to ensure coherence and long-term sustainability, and put in place a transparent trust framework that outlines clear rules for accreditation, assurance, privacy, and interoperability.

Additionally, according to the report, the government must enhance the security of the Clave Única (unique digital key) by adding security safeguards like multi-factor authentication, open the door for private sector collaboration but cautiously so, consider expanding the digital ID system to include digital credentials and digital wallets, introduce a fee model that is sustainable, set clear rules for oversight and regulatory functions, and ensure long-term sustainability and scalability.

According to the OECD, these recommendations build “on the experience of OECD and partner countries as well as the early engagement with the Chilean government,” and are also expected to support Chile build what it describes as a “hybrid model.” Going by this model, the government hopes to retain the key functions of the digital ID system, while it enables private-sector participation to improve services, expand adoption, and strengthen trust.

Beyond the case of Chile, the OECD report portrays digital ID generally as a foundational infrastructure which is vital for the growth of modern economies, with both transformative benefits and systemic risks that must be carefully managed.

It mentions examples like Estonia that runs a government-led digital ID model headlined by X-Road, Sweden’s private sector-led BankID which is widely adopted, and France’s hybrid model which can serve as an example for Chile.

The report also highlights the Mercosor cross-border digital identity system used by Uruguay and Brazil for online public services, an initiative which Chile says it is ready to participate in, as part of a regional move to advance digital ID interoperability.

The OECD has an instructive set of rules on digital ID governance adopted in 2023, to which entities like the G7 have committed.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Chile  |  civil registration  |  Clave Única  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  identity document  |  identity management  |  national ID  |  OECD