Digital Identity Explained
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Digital Identity Toolkit Section 3: Digital identity explained Published by the Social Purpose Team at Yoti January 2020 What is this Contents Toolkit? Introduction 04 What is digital identity? 06 Types of digital identity 09 Digital identity is a relatively new This Toolkit has been designed to What digital identity is not 12 but rapidly evolving sector that can help you find everything you need and will affect many aspects of our to know about digital identity. everyday lives. Before producing it, we spoke with Why does digital identity matter? 14 individuals and non-profits around Digital identities verify and the world to get a sense of what Access services 16 authenticate someone’s identity. they’d like to know about digital Protect the vulnerable 16 They can then be used to access identities. a wide range of services and Enable global transactions and activities 16 opportunities, from health and The audience for this Toolkit are education services, voting and members of the public, non-profits, Increase security 16 travelling, through to online shopping entrepreneurs, developers, journalists and dating. Governments and and academics who want to learn Increase efficiencies and improve due diligence 18 the private sector are developing more about digital identity and how Give power to the people 19 and implementing digital identity digital identities might be relevant to solutions, and they’re likely to become them in their lives or work. More benefits 20 increasingly common in the future. We hope you find this Toolkit helpful The implications of having no digital identity 21 While there is already a lot of and welcome your feedback about information on this topic, much of it how it could be improved. is in lengthy, technical reports that Digital ID trends and developments 22 hasn’t been collated into a simple format that non-technical people How to create a trusted digital ID 24 can understand. We hope this Toolkit can help close that gap. Establishing and managing your digital identity 25 Who creates digital identities? 26 Types of digital providers 28 Further reading 32 Websites 32 Reports 33 Digital Identity Toolkit - Section 3: Digital identity explained 3 Introduction Digital identity provides a way of attributes you must provide in order There is a great deal of international potential to open up new markets electronically verifying that somebody to access their service. Your identity interest in digital identity. It has been and grow economies by billions. It is is who they say they are, normally is verified using documents or prioritised in the United Nations’ hoped that blockchain technologies online, so that they can access other data, such as fingerprints or Sustainable Development Goals (SDG might also help to put individuals services both from government (for passports, which can confirm that you target 16.9) and governments across in better control of their personal example, healthcare, education, are who you say you are. This Toolkit the world, particularly in developing information. grants) and the private sector (for mainly focuses on this type of identity. countries, are driving progress and example, banking and e-commerce). adoption. National digital identities Without a digital identity people Unverified digital identities also exist, based on biometric data have been are at risk of being unable to access The most trustworthy type of digital and they are created by signing up introduced in India and Pakistan and critical public services and commercial identity is called a verified digital to certain websites such as Twitter, are being used to help citizens access services, including purchasing identity. It can be made up of a Facebook or Amazon. Through your public and private services, including property, owning land, buying a car, number of attributes (or different use of these sites your preferences education, welfare and e-commerce. being able to vote and reducing bits of information) depending on are recorded (your likes on Twitter, the risk of becoming homeless what the digital identity will be for example) and create a digital Digital identity also has the potential or stateless. These challenges used for, and could comprise of footprint, which becomes unique to to protect the vulnerable, including disproportionately affect poor and one or more of the following: your you as an individual. This information the estimated 1.1 billion people marginalised communities, further email address, digital photographs, is sometimes considered sufficient globally who still lack an official ID. increasing their vulnerability. even usernames and passwords or proof that you are who you say you It is hoped that digital identities biometric information, or any other are and can be used to access other will enable global transactions You can learn more about the information about a person that can websites and services. For instance, across borders, help to prevent different types of digital identity be accessed digitally. With many you can use a Google login to sign digital fraud, lower the costs and and why they matter in this section digital identity solutions, you can on to other websites. However, as increase the efficiency of delivering of the Toolkit. decide which attributes (or elements) you can provide a false name and services. It has the potential to of your identity, such as your age other information on sign-up, these strengthen democracies by enabling or nationality, you are comfortable unverified digital identities can’t be digital voting, and can be used to sharing when requested. However, used to access public services such provide more personalised services the provider of the service you are as healthcare, or private services such to individuals. Adopting secure, accessing usually dictates which as banking. verifiable digital identities has the Digital Identity Toolkit - Section 3: Digital identity explained 5 What is digital identity? Put simply, it is a way to verify that somebody is who they say they are digitally (normally online) so that they can access services both from government (for example, healthcare, education, grants) and the private sector The term ‘digital identity’ describes ‘technology- (banking and e-commerce). based solutions for identification in order to A digital identity is comprised of a number of characteristics uniquely establish a person’s identity and or data attributes. Examples of what a digital identity might include are: to credential it, so that the identity can be securely and unambiguously asserted, and • usernames and • digital photographs verified through electronic means for delivery passwords for • scanned passport online accounts of services, across sectors including healthcare, images safety nets, financial services, and transport’. • email address • social media posts • online search activities, • online accounts such as electronic transactions • comments on articles World Bank: Digital Identity Toolkit and social media • date of birth • likes, posts, reposts, • social security number and shares on social • medical history networks • purchasing history • signed online petitions or behaviour • created identity • personal website on forums • LinkedIn profile • credit card number • blog address • qualifications • biometric data, for • memberships example, thumbprints, DNA, face recognition, retina scanning Digital Identity Toolkit - Section 3: Digital identity explained 7 Types of digital identity It may be helpful to consider two different types of digital identity: verified and unverified. Verified Verified digital identities are created just once and include verified (confirmed) attributes – proof that someone is who they say they are – from documents such as passports, driving licenses, birth certificates and biometric scans. Once this identity is created it can be used like a passport around the web to access a whole range of other services. This is the most trustworthy form of digital identity and is the type of identity that we focus on in this Toolkit. Unverified Unverified digital identities are created when people register on websites with their name, date of birth and other personal details. Over time, they go on to create a history on those sites. For example, Facebook captures information about people’s friends, the content they like and their personal interests. In this way, a person creates a digital footprint which helps make up their online presence/ identity. After a period of use, some sites use this interaction to confirm that you are the person you say you are beyond reasonable doubt. This is still a form of digital identity, which will allow access to other services (for example, you can sign up to some other websites using your Facebook login) but there are many duplicates and fake profiles set up on many sites using false names or other false information. This would not be possible with a verified digital identity, which is why you are unable to use unverified identities to access government services and banking, for example. Digital Identity Toolkit - Section 3: Digital identity explained 9 Definitions of unverified digital identity are broad and What is digital identification Digital Identity Explained include any information recorded about you digitally, (digital ID)? with Examples including social media posts, your search history, digital photographs, likes, comments and so on. This type of digital identity can be regarded as ‘your entire, unique digital footprint on the internet and in databases’. 1 The Techopedia definition states that: ‘A digital identity is linked to one or more digital identifiers, like an email address, URL or domain name’. 2 Because identity theft is common, authentication and validation measures are needed in order for digital identities to be trusted, and to ensure web and network infrastructure security in both the public and private sectors. Validation ensures that identity providers allow for Identity in a Digital World Online Basics, Online Identity individuals to prove who they say they are. When using a digital identity, authentication enables users to prove that it really is them who is using their digital identity online. Identity is clearly a complex, multi-faceted concept.