On Thursday 5 May, the members of the EU Council’s Telecommunications Working Party discussed the establishment of a European framework for a digital identity (see EUROPE 12933/6).
Specifically, Member States were first asked to address the cost-benefit ratio and the different user experiences known at national level in order to determine whether the digital ID wallet should contain its own electronic identification functions or whether it should be considered as a ‘container’ that can accommodate already existing means of identification.
In addition to the functionalities to be incorporated in the wallet, Member States also discussed the level of security that the digital ID wallet should provide.
On this point, some Member States gave their full support to a “high” level, which they considered essential to ensure security and user confidence, while others argued for a “substantial” level of security, considering that a high level would risk limiting the use of the wallet to holders of the latest generation of smartphones and that the cases requiring a high level were few.
In addition, Member States also discussed the usefulness of qualified electronic attribute attestation providers, which are responsible for verifying, at the request of the user, the authenticity of the origin of attributes.
On this point, some Member States questioned the benefit of introducing this new trust service, considering that the added value it would represent could be limited.
Finally, the future regulation includes an obligation for Member States to put in place a unique and consistent identifier to identify the user in cases where identification is required.
Some Member States fully supported this provision, as they felt that such a unique and consistent identifier could facilitate the provision of online public services.
On the other hand, others have argued that such an identifier could facilitate the profiling and tracking of citizens in the digital world, which could be a risk. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)