Coming Soon: The European Digital Identity Wallet

Coming Soon: The European Digital Identity Wallet

Kit Knightly

The elite are already running large-scale pilot schemes for the future they want and we don’t. They are not being subtle about this. They are not hiding it.

The plan is a single government-issued app that holds your medical records, employment records, travel records, education records, vaccination records, tax records, financial records as well as (potentially) copies of your signature, fingerprints, facial scans, voice samples and DNA.

All stored handily on your phone…and shared with the governments of nineteen countries (plus Ukraine) and over 140 other public and private partners. Everyone from Deutsche Bank to the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Progress to Samsung Europe.

You will use this app to make payments, apply for loans, pay your taxes, pick up your prescriptions, cross international borders, start businesses, book doctor’s appointments, apply for jobs and even sign digital contracts online.

Businesses and government agencies would access this data from the back-end to conduct “automated background checks”.

The German Federation of Consumer Organizations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, VZBZ) has raised concerns that such an app would “pose privacy and data risks”, to which the only response is “duh, that’s what it’s for!”.

Just one of the pilot schemes “building prototypes and testing use-cases” for the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, there are three others at least.

This is the latest development in a roll-out dating back to the birth of Covid and beyond, with the EUID wallet being touted since 2021.

It was freshly brought to my attention a couple of days ago, when I stumbled on this article – Why Would You Need An “EU Wallet”? – by Anton Chashchin.

Chashchin is apparently chair of the fintech investment group N7, and his article is fairly good example of the kind of thing you can expect to see more widely in bigger mainstream outlets as we get closer to EUID’s full-scale implementation. It talks up the costs of fraud and how digital ID schemes will make everything so much safer and more efficient, but bemoans the “lack of harmonization” across borders and systems.

It’s standard stuff.

Interestingly, he also flags up that national-level digital ID schemes received a massive boost from the Covid “pandemic” [emphasis added]:

In other digital ID-related news, Jordan has announced digital ID will be implemented and required to vote in their next election.

Cameroon launched their new national ID system just a couple of days ago, which could potentially go fully digital in the near future.

And Tony Blair has been back on his favourite hobby horse, claiming British people will gladly exchange privacy for efficiency.

It goes on and on and on.