TECH TRENDS
Johnatan Uzan , Associate Director at BCG Platinion
assurance system that will run across all its public-facing services .
The plans , however , are already provoking controversy with concerns of how the tracking of individuals across multiple sites may impact user privacy and data protection .
And in practical terms , Estonia ’ s own e-ID scheme has run into its own issues . As it is tied to the country , it only applies on a local scale , and it is possible to forge false identities ; two fatal flaws that serve to deeply undermine the entire enterprise .
Once again it all comes down to trust . Whatever we do in identity , we need to ensure two things : First , that there is a unique way to reliably prove who you are , and second , that we can trust the institution responsible for creating that identity .
Data privacy will always have a critical part to play in the debate , with the ways in which an individual ’ s data is to be gathered and how it will ultimately be protected need careful consideration . In the long term , overcoming these concerns will require creating a low cost , non-forgeable way to prove who people are , which removes the need for a certification body at all .
As society becomes increasingly digital-first the need for a unique , nonforgeable digital ID , which is recognised globally and required to operate both online and in-person , becomes increasingly essential .
However , making this a reality will not be easy , relying on the co-operation and collaboration of multiple different organisations and services . And , of course , at its heart it ’ s a debate about trust .
With a digital identity an individual is easier to track , more can be known about them and the data itself can easily become intrusive if collected unchecked .
Ultimately , opting into an ‘ official ’ digital identity will be a choice each of us needs to make and if it ’ s going to be a success , it must be simple , it must be safe and it must feel worthwhile . x
AS SOCIETY BECOMES INCREASINGLY DIGITAL-FIRST THE NEED FOR A UNIQUE , NON-FORGEABLE DIGITAL ID , WHICH IS RECOGNISED GLOBALLY AND REQUIRED TO OPERATE BOTH ONLINE AND IN- PERSON , BECOMES INCREASINGLY ESSENTIAL . www . intelligentcxo . com
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