Every day we move closer towards bridging the gap between an analog and digital society.

The internet is not only more available than mains supply electricity, it’s ubiquitous. It’s an exciting and completely new ground for everyone.

The core element preventing a seamless blend with digital is identity.

What is a Digital Identity?

In the context of a person, some would consider an email address or social media account as an identity. These are persona’s, some people have more than one. Some are used to collect spam while others are used to verify various social media accounts.

A digital identity of a person is the verified data associated with that person which provides assurances that they are who they say they are, much like a passport or driver’s licence. When we present a passport or driver’s licence we don’t need to provide a password, this is the paradigm shift, digital identity would focus on identity assurance.

Who is looking at the Digital Identity concept?

The UN has set the goal of everyone on the planet having a digital identity by 2030. Governments around the world are in various stages of investigating digital identification methods, while Estonia has implemented the first stages of digital identity for interactions with various government departments. Lastly, the World Economic Forum has formed working groups to explore options and solutions.

Why would we want a Digital Identity?

Convenience As a consumer, consider how a seamless a transaction would be when interacting with a company. No longer having to remember multiple passwords. In terms of risk, financially or legally binding transactions could be authenticated with a fingerprint or retina scan. As a citizen, liaising with a government department would become truly streamlined as would civic duties such as voting.

Safety Digital accounts or persona’s created could be tied back to a single verified identity. Bullying, trolling, fake news creation, revenge porn and other acts outside what is socially acceptable or legally acceptable could be traced back to a digital identity. All such behavior would build a reputation, not so different to our analogue life.

With all such discussions, the privacy element is raised, as expected, George Orwell’s book would be quoted etc.

Conversely, we would have more control over the approval and management of data associated with us.

A digital identity isn’t that different from our current nondigital life, if we get pulled over when driving or travel to another country we present our identification. The vehicles we own have a licence plate that references an owner. When we encounter bad driving we could take note of the licence plate, report it to authorities or investigate who owns the vehicle, our action is based on the extremity of behavior.

In terms of privacy, if really concerned with online behavior or websites visited, there will always be a way to allow a level of anonymity in expressing oneself. The trade-off would be how credible that person’s opinion would be. A guiding principle of digital identify would need to align with a balanced democracy which does vary from country to country.

Thinking further forward, ownership and approval for the use of video, images, music, and our data has the potential to tie back to our digital identity. Data breaches would be less effective, sharing images and video used without or approval would reduce.

For some, the prospect of having a digital identity will be troubling, while others will welcome the convenience. At this stage, it is worth waiting to see what proposed solutions would look like.