We already have all the technical components necessary to build the Internet ID, and many countries are already implementing it. What do I mean by the Internet ID? A 21st-century, privacy-preserving, fully digital government-issued ID.
Here is how we are building it.
Discussion about age verification and related digital identity topics is raging on the internet. Recent regulatory changes in the UK exposed a lot of younger, tech-savvy people to the ID verification ecosystem, and they are not impressed.
The idea of taking a picture of your plastic ID to get access to the porn site doesn’t resonate with many people.
Alternative methods, like age estimation via selfie and age verification via telco operator or a bank, are leaving traces of your activity in databases of companies you do not necessarily trust.
It feels like you are oversharing information, just to prove your age.
Photo of your face? Full ID information? Letting your bank know that you want to access Pornhub?
That doesn’t feel right!
The Internet is maturing
Age-proofing of the online world has begun.
New laws are popping up all over the world, and they currently create more problems than they solve. Privacy concerns are mounting. Recent data breaches of apps like Tea have led to massive identity theft.
Scammers set up fake sites just to get your ID information.
Yet, we all understand that the internet can not exist without some form of digital identity layer.
We need to understand who is human and who is a bot online. We need to understand who is underage.
So, if we agree that we need to build the next-generation digital ID, let’s make it right!
First of all, let’s make one thing clear. Privacy-preserving ID technology is already here. We are currently working on the adoption bit.
The technology is called W3C Verifiable Credentials.
It separates the issuer of identity (trusted source like the government) from the verifier, so that the issuer has no idea if the ID was used or not and how.
The separation point is called the Wallet.
The wallet typically provides support for Zero-Knowledge Proofs, which is a fancy way of saying that no data is shared - just yes/no to the question “is this user older than 18?”.
In theory, you can choose any W3C VC-compatible wallet to store your government-issued eID.
So you can be sure that your privacy is protected.
Ever heard of Apple Wallet, Samsung or Google Wallet? They are on board with W3C VC standards! Currently, support is limited because it takes two to tango.
The second party that needs to be onboard with the idea is the issuer - the government entity.
Here is good news - many governments already are!
EU, with the eIDAS 2.0 regulation, is already implementing a mandate on all member states to issue their wallets and eIDs. The end of 2026 is the deadline for implementation.
The USA with mDLs, the UK, India and many other countries are either preparing and soon launching or already launched their identity wallets.
Initially, governments want to ensure adoption as well as reduce reliance on third-party wallets by issuing their own wallets. That might be a privacy issue.
Some countries insist on exclusivity - you can use our eID only with our wallet for now.
We need to make sure that eIDs will be freely available for any wallet, so the true spirit of privacy-preserving internet ID is achieved.
How will companies be able to verify identity using digital identity wallets? Take a look at our previous blog post here to find out more. (TLDR: eID Hubs - like Authologic - have a key role to play!)
The conversation around age verification and digital identity is far from over. In the coming months, we’re likely to see some exciting developments as more countries take steps to issue their own wallets and eIDs.
We’ll keep you posted on progress, so make sure you follow along.
We will help you to start your journey with
the most advanced e-ID Hub on the market.