EU Consortium to Deliver Controversial Digital ID Wallets

The European Union has announced the creation of a multi-country consortium, which will lead the delivery of a new cross-border payments pilot program in line with the goals of the European Commission, to launch a controversial digital ID wallet.

A statement released by the multi-country panel of experts appointed by the EU, called NOBID Consortium (which stands for ‘Nordic-Baltic eID Project) reveals that six countries will be involved in the development of the digital ID wallet. They are; Denmark, Latvia, Iceland, Germany and Norway.

The consortium will be responsible for the development and delivery of the EU’s “priority use cases” for the digital ID wallet, which will initially include payments. NOBID is reportedly receiving support from leading digital government agencies, banks, businesses and technology providers to leverage the mature digital identity infrastructure of the six respective nations in the consortium.

Digital ID plans also include the capacity to store a wide range of personal data points, from a person’s health and vaccination status to financial records and more.

NOBID claims the new pilot will involve a secure app that, when implemented, will “allow citizens across the continent to easily verify their ID, access public and private services and store sensitive digital documents in one place.”

Digital IDs and the privacy controversy

The concept of digital ID wallets has not been welcomed by many EU-based experts. And despite the great opposition, the EU marches on with its plans.

A number of industry experts and politicians have expressed concern, citing privacy issues and comparing such programs to China’s evolving social credit system.

In an informational video released by the EU, the commentator states that; “The European digital ID wallets will allow us to store and exchange documents and legal information, while having full control over what data we want to share with them.”

The move also has the full support of EU President Ursula von der Leyen, who says that digital IDs will enable EU citizens to have better control over their personal data and that the system will prevent identity theft.

For now, the wallet, which will be developed as an app to be uploaded to a mobile phone, will only contain information selected by the owner of the data. People can choose to include medical and financial information.

Political opposition to the concept of a digital ID wallet

However, debates have already been raised in the EU Parliament regarding the app’s potential as a tool that can be used to oppress citizens. MEP (Member of the European Parliament) Cristian Terhes, recently described the EU’s mandatory COVID-19 passport and digital ID wallet project as the “Chinification” of Europe.

He stated: “Obviously we are witnessing the China fixation of Europe right now because we see what is happening in China right now with the social credit score, where the government monitors all the people… They control everything and watch everything . This is an example of tyranny.”

Another skeptic, MEP Rob Roos of the Netherlands, raised the issue of mandates. He said: “How voluntary is the European Digital Identity Wallet? But more importantly, how voluntary will it remain in the future? Because the EU always comes up with good plans to eventually abuse it, to create more control.”

Digital IDs and social credit programs

According to reports, some countries in Europe are already embracing digital credit programs that can work alongside the digital ID wallet. Rome and Bologna, for example, have begun piloting a social credit program that rewards people for following the practices that will contribute to the net zero agenda. These activities include the use of bicycles instead of scooters.

EU confidence in the digital ID wallet programme

Despite opposition, the statement does not acknowledge the controversy, noting instead that the NOBID consortium will only be one of the EU’s digital identity pilots, and will receive funding from the European Commission’s DIGITAL Europe programme, enabling the pilot launch in March 2023.

Furthermore, the implementation will “leverage existing payment infrastructure to enable payment issuance, instant payments, account-to-account transfers and payment acceptance both in-store and online.”

The project will also have “unmatched” support from leaders in banking and payments, including DSGV in Germany, DNB and BankID in Norway, Nets in Denmark, Intesa Sanpaolo, PagoPA and ABILab in Italy and Greiðsluveitan in Iceland.

Speaking about the project, Tor Alvik, project manager in the consortium, said; “We are honored and privileged to have the European Commission’s trust to pilot and shape the future of digital payments and digital identity in Europe. Together with all our partners, we will use our experience and highly mature digital identity infrastructures in the NOBID consortium countries to deliver a successful large-scale payment pilot of the EU Digital ID Wallet.

A number of leading technology partners have also allied themselves with the project. They include; Thales, iProov, Signicat, RB, Auðkenni, IPZS, Poste Italiane, Intesi Group, InfoCert, FBK and the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre. Sellers who will test the payment solution include Elkjøp in Norway and REWE-group in Germany.