The European Digital Identity it has a green light. The European Parliament has approved this initiative by 335 votes in favor, 190 against and 31 abstentionswhich means that what is expected to be the maximum change in the online identity of users, only has to overcome the obstacle of the Council of Ministers of the EU before definitively becoming Law.
European Digital Identity is, in short, a kind of EU digital wallet to authenticate and access public and private services, and to store, share and electronically sign documents. In theory, it means the unification of procedures to identify and authenticate without the need to resort to third partiesa function similar to the electronic DNI, but of unified use throughout the European Union.
One of the main requirements and reason for debate during its approval is that it be open source, with the idea of providing greater transparency and security. There are still many pending issues before it reaches the common use of citizen administrative procedures, but on paper it is a way to unify authentication on the network, which will greatly facilitate procedures with the administration and with third parties.
Many doubts about the privacy of the European Digital Identity
The most controversial point of the approval of the Digital Identity Europe regulation has to do with the voluntariness of use. In principle, use this system to identify yourself or sign documents onlinewill be completely voluntary, since according to the regulator, it seeks to safeguard the rights of citizens, avoiding discrimination against people who choose not to use the digital wallet.
The reality is that, as it is proposed, you will have very little as a volunteer. The preliminary approach is for it to be the standard for certain administrative procedures, such as applying for a place at a university or a European health card, or applying for certain job positions. In addition, member states can expand the administrative procedures in which its use will be mandatory, although it is expected that, for the moment, it will coexist with internal digital authentication systems (the DNIe) or with in-person procedures.
Some groups have been especially critical of this European initiative. Already in 2023 various civil entities urged European officials to reconsider the current trajectory of eIDAS 2.0, the legal framework for the adoption of a European Digital Identity that now has the green light. For pro-privacy groups, its application could mean the death of anonymity, leading to “over-identification” and a “real name on the Internet”:
“In its current form, the European Digital Identity System would be a gift to Google and Facebook to undermine the privacy of EU citizens. “This will affect everyone in the EU and put them at a lower level of privacy than people in other regions of the world.”
Open letter to the EU on the problems of eIDAS 2.0.
Be that as it may, the way is paved for it to be the standard with regard to European administrative procedures, so in practice its use will be more than mandatory. This has generated an enormous debate not only in its conception, also in their future application when the ministers of the different countries give them the OK and ended up becoming a law in application.
The privacy of the system also raises questions. Not so much because of its possible vulnerability, but with the traceability to which each of the European bodies will have access in the actions of the citizen, in a completely centralized and unified way: the possibility of bringing together everything from the medical consultations issued by this system to the border movements, banking applications or the simplest administrative procedures, as well as their identification in third-party systems.
The regulation also provides that it be used to sign documents
The law also provides for including qualified electronic signatures free of charge for users in the European Digital Identity, which are the most reliable and have the same legal status as a handwritten signature. Also, although unspecified, as wallet-to-wallet interactions, to improve the fluidity of digital exchanges. It further raises privacy doubts.
However, the regulations contemplate something called privacy panelin which users will be able to have full control of their data and request its deletion, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Be that as it may, the European Digital Identity is a reality, and in the absence of developing its final approval by the EU ministers, and its regulatory and technical specifications, everything seems to indicate that, in the near future, it will be the standard in communications. electronics within the European Union, whether we like it or not.