How the European Digital Identity is changing the continent

With the widescale introduction of technology for the automatic verification of a person’s identity online, many countries are moving ahead in the race for the most efficient service.

A recent post by Electronic IDentification has outlined that despite these improvements across the board, one of the key challenges that remains surrounds the area of of regulatory compliance, due to the fragmentation of regional criteria.

eID said, “User and citizen identity verification practices have always been highly fragmented on an international scale, with legislation varying from continent to continent and, until recently in Europe, also from country to country. Some models tried to break through and establish themselves as a global standard, such as the preferred American model based on the acceptance of selfies of identity documents and individuals. This model failed because of the level of risk involved, and has not been successful, as companies and administrations need a long-term compliance system.”

In Europe, the need for a common digital identity has been key. With over 500 million citizens, establishing a single digital identity for remote identity verification across the range of markets in Europe has been a vital task for the continent. eID noted that in this sense, the Electronic Signature based on a Qualified Certificate – issued after an identity verification through a real-time video – is established as the highest security standard existing at European level for the verification of a person’s identity.

eID added, “This homogenisation of the criteria for remote identity verification not only makes it possible to have a single solution that meets the highest security standards, but also the highest privacy standards (GDPR)”

The company remarked that this standardisation is becoming to European digital identity what the ‘Euro was to currency’ at the beginning of the century. The Qualified Electronic Signature with video identification, the firm claims, has brought with it a common paradigm in the sense that what is valid in one EU country is also valid in another.

eID highlighted that the next step is now to coordinate the identification requirements and systems of different jurisdictions internationally.

Electronic IDentification concluded, “The companies that were foresighted in 2016 and already understood this vision, are the only ones that today offer a technology and service in line with the highest European standards, with seamless usability, and optimal conversion rates. These same companies and their customers, working closely with EU bodies, are also designing the technologies that will enable the European, and perhaps global, identity of the future.”

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