EU agrees on a more secure, trustworthy and inclusive means of digital identification

Coming off the heels of the digital identity framework proposed in 2021 by the European Commission, the Parliament and the Council of the EU have reached an accord on the utility of the digital identity wallet application for people in Europe, whether they are in the private or public sector or are represented as individuals or corporations. According to the revised policy, this form of eID is expected to reach key benchmarks. It should provide high trust to end users and operators alike. The system is also expected to be adaptable to technological developments within the field, allowing for new trust services such as the provision of electronic ledgers. However, the onus remains with member states to assure ID matching in the case of cross-border services. 

The draft regulation will also align with other existing policy frames. For instance, it should always be fully functional in any part of the EU, keeping with common market principles. As under the previous regulation, wallets should also comply with cybersecurity legislation and current credentialing frameworks. The framework upholding digital wallets should be enforced after legal and linguistic review.

Typically, digital wallets are a type of financial transaction app that runs on any connected device. It securely stores your payment information and passwords, allowing businesses and consumers worldwide to accept or send funds without needing a bank account. The application is now increasingly being used to store and authenticate other forms of IDs.