Digital identity wallets present big choices as EUDI preparations ramp up

If identity is fundamental to human rights and the relationship with the state, then it is a responsibility of the government to make sure it works. The government is also responsible for enabling economic activity, which means the IDs it bestows or endorses must work with the private sector. But identity is individual, and sometimes the best way for governments to enable economies is to get out of the way.

Digital identity wallets that enable biometric authentication for these transactions offer the promise of individual control, but who provides the wallet?  And what about the technology behind it?

This tangle of relationships is expressed in the sovereignty concerns and digital identity wallet developments that make up many of this week’s top stories on Biometric Update.

DPI begins with 5 Cs

“Capital” is one of the “5 Cs” identified by the UNDP as necessary to build and operate sovereign digital public infrastructure. Sri Lanka sees cloud architecture as central to the sovereignty of its DPI and digital economy ambitions. And like Sri Lanka, Burundi is looking to the India Stack for inspiration as it stands up digital ID and payments infrastructure, in part to strengthen its digital sovereignty.

How do EU do ID wallets?

IDnow’s Liudmyla Rabchynska, a former Ukraine government minister and architect of Diia, warns European countries against treating the EU Digital Identity Wallet as just another piece of infrastructure in an interview with Biometric Update. She sees Diia’s success as a product of a new relationship between individuals and the state.

How exactly EUDI Wallets will change that relationship is still somewhat up in the air.

The EU-funded TrustED consortium has taken a step towards validating the privacy-preserving SSI tools it has developed to go with EUDI Wallets with its first two pilots.

What role, if any Google should have in this ecosystem is emerging as a point of contention. And are the banks committed to reusable ID with true user choice?

Romania’s government says it is adopting Germany’s EUDI Wallet model because it best aligns with its values of privacy, security and data sovereignty. Across the continent to the West, Belgium has chosen Zetes to implement qualified e-signatures to its MyGov to bring it into alignment with EUDI Wallet requirements.

EUDI Wallets also present opportunities for businesses like Czechia-based Wultra, which raised €6.8 million (around US$7.8 million) to scale its post-quantum authentication for the digital wallet ecosystem.

Ireland has now completed its public consultation, and is moving on to the pilot stage for its EUDI Wallet.

Examples of private sector digital identity wallets making pitches for adoption come from Arizona and Kuwait, the former with AstreaX directly integrating with the state’s mDL authority and the latter with AZ eWallet integrating Shufti biometrics

Please let us know about any podcasts, white papers or other content you think we should share with the people who work in biometrics and the broader digital identity community in the comments below or through social media.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  digital wallets  |  week in review