Mobile digital identities: A global phenomenon

November 11, 2024


Mobile digital identity systems (Mobile-ID) are driving the development of the electronic government worldwide and they are considered as one of the main key enablers for the e-Government since they considerably facilitate the design of the electronic services. And early adopters' countries are leaders in e-Government in their respective regions. Mobile-ID systems help to efficiently serve citizens online, to rapidaly scale and to better promote equal access to public services for everyone regardless of the digital literacy level.


Key words: Digital Identity, Mobile-ID, E-Government, Single Sign-On (SSO), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), e-KYC, Qualified Digital Signature.


Nationwide Identification System

Authenticating citizens and residents online, requires a secure, scalable, and unique way of authentication since people have too often to repeat registering at the government services and repeatedly sharing data about themselves when creating online accounts. From one hand, people must memorise and keep secure several user credentials and from the other hand, they must continuously update their personal contact information in each government website to keep their online accounts secure, active, and functional over the time. Hence, governments should develop one inclusive, accessible, and centralised authentication system for citizens to let them easily login to all government e-services. Across the globe, there are a growing number of nationwide authentication schemes that are becoming role models in how to nationally deploy smart digital identity to considerably facilitate the design of the G2C electronic services. And according to the state-of-art, many countries succeeded to equip millions of citizens and residents with digital identities to access thousands of electronic services, ranging from e-government to financial services, e-health, e-business, and transportation services.


Legal Digital Identity

A national digital identity is much more than a security solution. It is a state-recognized electronic identity (not necessarily provided directly by the state) and legally equivalent to face-to-face identification. The national digital ID is a combination of techniques used to identify people in the digital world since we can’t conduct online transactions without being sure of the involved counterparties. Nowadays, mobile digital identity systems are widely introduced by several countries around the world, operated by public and/or private entities and involving an ID ecosystem composed mainly of three types of actors: ID providers, ID holders and ID verifiers. There is no legal obligation to request a digital identity. However, more and more government organisations are using digital IDs for access to their online services and in the near future, without the state-recognized digital identity, the citizen will not be able to fully benefit from the available online services.


Main Features and Delivery Process

The mobile digital ID is usually linked to a physical ID and/or national ID number and/or to a biometric ID document. The national Mobile-ID is delivered after confirming the identity with certainty either physically at the ID provider’s office or online with visual interview or using a biometric authentication. According to the country case, the national digital ID is delivered for various age requirements (above 13, 14, 15 or 18), however, the online service providers either public or private may set higher age limit to their specific services and more access restrictions. Digital identities have most of the time a limited validity period and need to be renewed online before expiration otherwise the citizen must apply for it again. In some countries, the digital identity remains valid as long as the user keep using it and in case of inactivity it will stay valid for only a fixed period. In practice, citizens must choose good user credentials for their IDs: too hard to guess and easy to remember. Moreover, service providers should implement extra precaution based on SMS notification to keep the users always informed about all activities related to their digital identity and should temporarily block access in case of violation of terms of use or suspicion of misuse. 


Main Benefits and Opportunities

Mobile-IDs are designed to be a simple, fast, and secure way of proving online the claimed identity, and they are mainly adopted to:

Thus, Mobile-IDs bring all these functions together and governments around the world have built data sharing platforms of various types with linkages to digital identity systems to enable people to release their attributes with the online service providers (first name, surname, age, etc) and to exercise consent and full control over their personal data. To enable adoption of the Mobile-ID, the cost of issuing it should be equal or less than the cost of issuing the physical ID card it digitally represents. Further, the identification process via the digital ID should therefore be free of charge for both consumers and organisations and the price of all other ID’s functions like digital signature needs to be affordable or even provided for free.


Digital Signature and Granting Proxy

Digital signature made with the national mobile identity is considered as fully qualified signature and legally equivalent to a handwritten signature. From a technical point of view, a personal X.509 certificate and a pair of digital signing crypto keys are generated the first time the citizen got his digital ID and later only that person will be able to use from then on. In general, the digital signature made with the digital ID is designed to better use elsewhere than printing out documents, signing and scanning them back in for emailing. The digital signature service will help to prove the integrity of the electronic transactions, the identity of the signatories and the engagement of all communicating parts in a traceable way. The mobile identity is personal and private, and, in some schemes, it is possible to digitally grant proxy to another person or entity in possession of a national digital identity to access online public services or to do specific tasks on your behalf and it is generally possible to authorize several people at a time. The solution of delegation is generally for a fixed period and is mainly designed to solve a widespread practice, which often sees people unable to use digital services communicate their access credentials to a third party who uses them instead, with obvious risks of security and protection of the person. Moreover, people with physical and cognitive disabilities should also be able to independently use the national digital identity system that has to meet all the accessibility requirements.


Future Opportunities and Concerns

The implementation of mobile digital identities in different countries takes various forms and may or may not include all previously discussed technological features. Besides to the technological differences, there are different business models and governance approaches and, to make a big success, the Mobile-ID needs to reach the critical mass and a large user base as quickly as possible to not fail and to continue to exist. Around the world, Mobile-IDs are neither universal nor interoperable and mutual acceptance initiatives set between some countries are not enough. So, there is a manifested need for an international perspective to have a standardized cross border identity system able to be used regardless the ID provider’s country and the holder’s nationality. As the field of digital identification continues to evolve, future improvements need to focus more on interoperability between ID systems, openness to unlock innovation by the private sector, better supporting citizens in understanding the ID technology and helping decision makers to successfully manage the digital change and to reach a high level of scalability of the Mobile-ID systems.


Mobile-IDs from around the World

EUROPE

Country, Service Name, Year of launch, Official Website

[1] Netherlands, DigID, 2004, https://digid.nl

[2] Hungary, Client Gate/Client Gate+, 2005/2022, https://ugyfelkapu.gov.hu

[3] Estonia, Mobile-ID, 2007, https://www.mobiil-id.ee

[4] Danemark, NemID/MitID, 2010/2023, https://www.mitid.dk

[5] Norway, MinID, 2010, https://minid.no

[6] Czech Republic, MojeID, 2010, https://www.mojeid.cz

[7] Germany, Ausweisen App, 2010, https://www.ausweisapp.bund.de

[8] Sweden, Bank ID, 2011, https://www.bankid.com

[9] Lithuania, Mobile-ID, 2011, https://www.mobile-id.lt

[10] Moldova, MPass, 2012, https://mpass.gov.md

[11] France, FranceConnect/FranceConnect+, 2014/2021, https://franceconnect.gouv.fr

[12] Portugal, Autenticacao/ID, 2014/2019, https://www.autenticacao.gov.pt / https://id.gov.pt

[13] Cyprus, CY Login, 2014, https://cge.cyprus.gov.cy

[14] Slovenia, SMS Pass/SI Pass, 2015/2018, https://www.si-trust.gov.si

[15] Italy, SPID, 2016, https://www.spid.gov.it

[16] Belgium, Itsme, 2017, https://www.itsme-id.com

[17] Switzerland, SwissID, 2017, https://www.swissid.ch

[18] Ireland, MyGovID, 2017, https://www.mygovid.ie

[19] Latvia, Smart-ID, 2017, https://www.smart-id.com

[20] Estonia, Smart-ID, 2017, https://www.smart-id.com

[21] Lithuania, Smart-ID, 2017, https://www.smart-id.com

[22] Poland, Mobywatel 2.0, 2017, https://info.mobywatel.gov.pl

[23] Croatia, eID, 2018, https://mobile.eid.hr

[24] Ukraine, ID.GOV.UA, 2019, https://id.gov.ua

[25] Serbia, ConsentID, 2021, https://eid.gov.rs

[26] United Kingdom, Gov UK One Login, 2022, https://signin.account.gov.uk

[27] Austria, ID Austria, 2022, https://www.oesterreich.gv.at/en/id-austria.html

[28] Greece, Wallet ID, 2022, https://wallet.gov.gr

[29] Slovakia, Slovensko v mobile, 2022, https://ep.slovensko.sk

[30] Macedonia, eID, 2022, https://eid.com.mk

[31] Luxembourg, GouvID, 2022, https://gouvid.lu

[32] Romania, ROeID, 2023, https://www.roeid.ro

[33] Poland, E-Dowód, 2023, https://www.gov.pl/web/e-dowod

[34] Moldova, EVO, 2024, https://evo.gov.md

[35] Slovakia, Autogram, 2024, https://sluzby.slovensko.digital


AFRICA

[1] Kenya, eCitizen (One Login), 2014, https://accounts.ecitizen.go.ke

[2] Nigeria, NIMC Mobile Digital ID, 2019, https://nimc.gov.ng/mobile-digital-id

[3] Benin, Mobile-ID, 2020, https://identite-numerique.gouv.bj

[4] Mauritius, Maupass, 2021, https://maupass.govmu.org

[5] Tunisia, E-Houwiya, 2022, https://e-houwiya.tn

[6] Seychelles, SeyID, 2022, https://www.seyid.gov.sc

[7] Djibouti, Mobile-ID, 2022, https://mobileid.dj

[8] Morocco, Mon e-ID, 2022, https://www.identitenumerique.ma

[9] Zambia, ZamPass, 2022, https://zampass.gsb.gov.zm

[10] Mauritania, Houwiyeti (Digital ID), 2023, https://anrpts.gov.mr/en/houwiyeti

[11] Ghana, CitizenApp, 2024, https://www.citizen.gov.gh*


AMERICA

[1] Chile, ClaveUnica, 2010, https://claveunica.gob.cl

[2] Uruguay, Identidad Mobile ID, 2015, https://identidad-mobile.id.com.uy

[3] Paraguay, Identidad Electronica, 2016, https://identidad.paraguay.gov.py

[4] Argentina, Autenticar/Mi Argentina, 2017/2019, https://id.argentina.gob.ar

[5] Brazil, Gov.br, 2019, https://sso.acesso.gov.br

[6] Columbia, Cédula Digital Colombia, 2020, https://www.registraduria.gov.co

[7] Panama, SSO Panama Digital, 2020, https://sso.panamadigital.gob.pa

[8] Bahamas, My Gateway, 2021, https://mygateway.gov.bs

[9] Peru, ID Gob.pe, 2021, https://info.id.gob.pe

[10] El Salvadore, Identidad Digital, 2022, https://login.gob.sv

[11] Bolivia, Mi Identidad, 2023, https://www.segip.gob.bo

[12] Suriname, Digitale-ID Government Authenticator, 2024, https://digitale-id.gov.sr


ASIA

[1] Singapore, Singpass, 2003, https://www.singpass.gov.sg

[2] Turkey, Mobil Imza/e-Devlet Şifresi, 2007/2008, https://giris.turkiye.gov.tr

[3] Saudi Arabia, Absher/Nafath, 2010/2015, https://www.absher.sa / https://www.iam.gov.sa

[4] Russia, ESIA, 2011, https://esia.gosuslugi.ru

[5] Bahrain, eKey (Digital ID), 2012, https://www.ekey.bh

[6] Maldives, Efaas, 2012, https://efaas.egov.mv

[7] Azerbaijan, Digital ID, 2013, https://digital.login.gov.az

[8] Oman, Mobile-ID, 2014, https://cms.tra.gov.om

[9] Malaysia, MyDigitalID, 2016, https://digital-id.my

[10] Uzbekistan, OneID, 2016, https://id.egov.uz

[11] United Arab Emirates, UAE Pass, 2018, https://uaepass.ae

[12] Armenia, Mobile ID, 2018, https://mobileid.am

[13] Qatar, Tawtheeq/Qatar Digital Identity, 2019/2022, https://www.nas.gov.qa

[14] Brunei, One Common Portal (OCP), 2019, https://www.ocp.mofe.gov.bn

[15] Cambodia, CamDigKey, 2019, https://camdigikey.gov.kh

[16] Kyrgyzstan, TunDuk, 2019, https://esia.tunduk.kg

[17] Kuwait, Hawyti (Digital ID), 2020, https://hawyti.paci.gov.kw

[18] Hong Kong, iAM Smart, 2020, https://www.iamsmart.gov.hk

[19] Bangladesh, MyInfo, 2020, https://idp-v2.live.mygov.bd

[20] Indonesia, Digital eKTP/INA Pas, 2021/2024, https://inapas.go.id

[21] South Korea, Mobile-ID, 2022, https://www.mobileid.go.kr

[22] Iran, MyGov SSO, 2022, https://sso.my.gov.ir

[23] Jordan, Sanad, 2022, https://www.sanad.gov.jo

[24] Vietnam, VNeID, 2022, https://vneid.com

[25] Bhutan, Bhutan NDI, 2023, https://www.bhutanndi.com

[26] Philipines, eGovPH, 2024, https://e.gov.ph


AUSTRALIA

[1] Australia, myGovID, 2019, https://www.mygovid.gov.au