A short newsletter this week as we head into the bank holiday and our email inboxes need a well-earned rest.
We know that there is a lot of mistrust and worry about digital identity, as plans for various schemes emerge in the US, the UK and across Europe. This week I talk with Andy Tobin, digital wallets and innovation expert, who knows everything there is to know about the EU's plans for a digital identity wallet. This is a massive scheme which will have huge impacts on society and the economy of the EU.
We cover what the European identity system (eIDAS) is, how it works and why the EU needs it, the difference between identity cards and digital wallets and the role of verifiable credentials.
We also explore why digital credentials are more secure than paper documents, the spectre of big tech, self sovereign identity and the future of credentials in general.
It is a very different approach to the one that has been adopted by the UK. In fact, the next episode will feature my conversation with Lord Holmes about the UK's digital identity approach, and why it differs. Which we also mentioned on Episode 15 Digital Identity: The State of the Nations. Check it out here.
But this week, let's first get to grips with eIDAS, the EU's wallet.
Andy reminds us that the future isn't about identity cards but about credentials in digital wallets. But if it is not done right then we open up citizens to everyday surveillance - and we address that in the discussion.
We also talk about 'alternative futures' - what does a world of less Govt and more Big Tech look like in digital ID?
And we even talk about Digital ID in the futher-off future of 2030 once we have dispensed with smartphone devices in favour of spatial computing. Where do our credentials go?
Andy makes even the most complex of technicalities around digital ID very easy to understand so please do give it a listen. It's in all our interests for the general public to have as much knowledge - and as much say - in the development of these sytems as possible.
Meantime, you can still buy the book that predicted all this and more:
The Future of You: Can Your Identity Survive 21st Century Technology?
