Abstract

Governments around the world are committed to supporting the roll out of national digital IDs, but there are privacy and security implications associated with scaling these systems at a national level.

Responsible implementation of ID services is a critical enabler for financial inclusion; it enables access to services and enactment of civil rights. According to the World Bank, more than 1 billion people are currently living without an official digital identity.

Questions of trust are based around the complex interplay of socio-technical considerations, requiring multi-disciplinary expertise. The ‘trustworthiness’ of digital IDs is characterised by multiple inter-related dimensions that include security, privacy, ethics, resilience, robustness and reliability. These dimensions are required to provide the knowledge, tools and guidance needed to implement privacy-preserving, secure identification systems

The project aims to enhance the privacy and security of national digital identity systems, with the ultimate goal to maximise the value to beneficiaries, whilst limiting known and unknown risks to these constituents and maintaining the integrity of the overall system.