Digital identity: Contemporary challenges for data protection, privacy and non-discrimination rights

Abstract

The World Bank estimates that over one billion people currently lack official identity documents. To tackle this crucial issue, the United Nations included the aim to provide legal identity for all by 2030 among the Sustainable Development Goals. Technology can be a powerful tool to reach this target. In the digital age, new technologies increasingly mediate identity verification and identification of individuals. Currently, State-led and public-private initiatives use technology to provide official identification, to control and secure external borders, and to distribute humanitarian aid to populations in need. All of these initiatives have profound implications for the protection of human rights of those affected by them. Digital identity technologies may render individuals without legal documentation more visible and therefore less vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. However, they also present risks for the protection of individuals' human rights. As they build on personal data for identification and identity verification, data protection and privacy rights are most clearly affected. The prohibition of discrimination in the digital space is also of concern as these technological advances' societal impact is not yet fully understood. Accordingly, the article argues that emerging digital identity platforms will only contribute to the protection of human rights if the providers adequately mitigate any risks of potential discrimination and promote high standards of privacy and data protection.

Perspectives from Higher Education: Applied Sciences University Teachers on the Digitalization of the Bioeconomy : The Acceptance of Digital Surveillance in an Age of Big Data

“…This was obvious through the relatively low, yet acceptable R-squared measures. Nonetheless, the study confirms what previous literature suggested regarding the relationship between identity concerns and citizens' acceptance of governmental use of personal data (Beduschi, 2019), as well as between (Ebelogu et al, 2019).…”

“…This study addresses the calls in previous literature to better understand concerns that citizens have about the rise of digital surveillance amidst socio-technical changes (see for example, Bernal, 2016;Cayford & Pieters, 2018;Beduschi, 2019;Ram & Gray, 2020).…”

“…Undeniably, privacy has become a critical issue as state-corporate actors seeking to obtain peoples' digital identity information have implemented new technologies and methods to gather that information. Accordingly, as those stakeholders "build on personal data for identification and identity verification, data protection and privacy rights are most clearly affected" (Beduschi, 2019). Taylor (2002) argues that "paradoxically, it is a demand for privacy that drives the need for surveillance and therefore greater privacy and so on," creating a selfperpetuating cycle.…”

Rethinking digital identity for post-COVID-19 societies: Data privacy and human rights considerations

“…Digital identity technologies are not inherently neutral. Depending on how digital identity systems are designed and used, they may lead to inequalities or discrimination and even hinder the rights of those that they intend to benefit (Beduschi, 2019).…”

Online reputation management on the Instagram profile of police_hu

“…Azonban az utasítás hatályba lépését megelőzően már bevett gyakorlattá vált, hogy nyilvánosan, következmények nélkül lehet a szervezetbe vetett bizalmat aláásni, hiszen nem létezett még erre vonatkozóan hivatalos állásfoglalás. A jogszabályi háttér kiegészítése az egyéb szervezetszabályzó jogi eszközzel elengedhetetlenül szükséges volt, hiszen egyáltalán nem mindegy, hogy milyen információk látnak napvilágot az online térben magánszemélyekről, szervezetekről, és azok milyen hatással vannak a digitális identitásra (Beduschi, 2019). A Google felmérése (URL1) szerint már 2001-ben is az emberek 22%-a keresett rá a saját szervezetére, amelyet a szakirodalomban ego-szörfözésnek vagy hiúsági keresésnek neveznek (Yonetani, Kitani & Sato, 2018).…”