On March 22 at 2pm, Claire Levallois-Barth spoke on the theme: A European digital identity wallet for all EU citizens and residents: benefits, risks and guarantees, at the invitation of the Cyber CNI (Cybersecurity for Critical Networked Infrastructures) Chair.
The European Digital Identity Wallet or EUDI Wallet is a device with major consequences for our lifestyles. Its details are defined in the European Commission's June 3, 2021 proposal for a regulation on a digital identity. They are the subject of intense legislative debate, which we will report on here, based in particular on the proposals contained in the report of the European Parliament's Industry Committee published on March 2, 2023.
According to the European Commission, by 2030, at least 80% of European citizens and residents will be equipped with an application (on cell phones or other devices) enabling them to identify themselves in a wide variety of contexts, exchange data and supporting documents, and sign electronically. In concrete terms, this will concern common or necessary uses such as online payment, proof of acquired diplomas, driving licenses, information exchanges with public authorities or private players, health care, medical prescriptions, etc. This implementation will be supposed to be “secure” and “controlled” by the user.
It is also a political ambition that aims to support the completion of the digital single market by strengthening the supply of cross-border electronic means of identification. Some might see it as a mere aggregation of technical bricks, but in our increasingly digitized world, including in conditions that are becoming compulsory, its effects will de facto profoundly alter our daily lives, our lifestyles and our relationships with others.
Implementing this “true digital twin” is, however, a very tricky business. It involves overcoming a large number of obstacles and resolving critical interdependencies. The stakes are anything but insignificant, starting with the constant traceability of the individual and his or her freedom of choice, the interfacing of wallets supplied at Member State level and their technical reliability based on common standards, and national and European sovereignty (in the face of GAFAMs enjoying an unrivalled industrial and financial advantage, to name but one).
To lean more:
- "Pourquoi un portefeuille numérique européen à marche forcée ?", Mark Hunyadi en collaboration avec Claire Levallois-Barth, Ivan Meseguer, Maryline Laurent et Patrick Waelbroeck, 30 avril 2022, Le soir, Carta Academica
- European Digital Identity, European Commission