Enhancing the privacy and security of national digital identity systems

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 one billion people are currently living without an official digital identity.

The Alan Turing Institute is joining a vibrant community of NGOs, charities, private sector providers, universities and think tanks addressing global identity challenges in the digital age.

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

This initiative has received initial funding through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.