“The European Commission may be changing its mind about its proposed requirement for all European Union member states to incorporate unique identifiers in digital IDs that become part of the bloc’s interoperable ID structure. Proposals to remove the mandate are being considered by the committee overseeing legislative development, and a Commission spokesperson has told news outlet Euractiv that a single identifier is negotiable. A persistent, or lifelong, unique identifier could be used to track individuals across any government database. While the first-look regulation on identity in 2014 was based on privacy by design, the Commission has added persistent identifiers for eIDAS 2.0, being developed.”

“Fingerprint biometric algorithms from id3 Technologies are being used in Peru’s new digital identity cards, after being selected by NXP Semiconductors, according to a company announcement. Id3’s match-on-card fingerprint algorithm is being embedded in the Peruvian national electronic identity card (DNIe). The card will be used for secure, efficient access to public services. Peru’s government envisions the digital ID being used for secure electronic transactions and electronic voting, id3 says.”

“Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), a global security technology group, today announced the acquisition of the payment and identity solutions business of Valid USA. With this step, G+D aims to accelerate growth in the U.S., one of the world’s largest payment and identity markets. G+D customers will benefit from the enlarged business size in the face of persistent industry-wide supply chain challenges. G+D and Valid, headquartered in Brazil, today signed an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) for the acquisition of Valid’s payment and identity solutions business in the U.S. by G+D. This includes the three manufacturing facilities in Downers Grove (Illinois), Bolingbrook (Illinois) and Fort Wayne (Indiana), which collectively employ more than 400 people as well as parts of the Valid USA headquarters in Lisle (Illinois).”

“German consumers with a Galaxy S20 mobile phone will be the first to be able to use a new government-backed service that allows citizens to securely store their national ID on an embedded secure element in their smartphone, Samsung has announced. The smartphone maker is working with the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Bundesdruckerei and Deutsche Telekom Security “to develop a hardware-based security architecture that allows citizens to securely store their National ID on their smartphone as an eID,” the company says.”

“Pure play ecommerce outlets have spent years developing systems to manage transactions and verify customer identities, but most retailers on Main Street are accustomed to seeing shoppers in person and visually checking IDs. A San Francisco-based startup called Persona is offering to help those local businesses adapt by giving away its online ID verification service for free during the COVID-19 crisis.”

“Initially launched as a blockchain consortium of U.S. credit unions, CULedger later became a credit union service organization (CUSO). Last year, the firm raised $10 million in Series A funding.  MemberPass is the rebranded version of CULedger’s flagship product MyCUID , the KYC-backed digital identity solution. It enables members to control their identity and securely verify themselves with their credit unions.”

“Kount , the leading AI-driven fraud prevention solution, today unveiled its Identity Trust Global Network, flipping the script on fraud management from just blocking bad transactions to empowering organizations to unlock previously untapped revenue streams through delivering personalized user experiences. Identity Trust is the ability to establish a real-time level of trust for each identity behind every interaction, including payments, account creation, and login events.”

“The pilot program will test a new way for people to prove their identity without having to carry multiple documents. Instead, the model allows the data to sit with its rightful owner – the user. It will activate a distributed model that blends information stored on an individual’s mobile device and verified by additional reference points, such as an individual’s bank or participating government agencies . It eliminates the need for a centralized identity database.”

“Colorado residents who download a special app can use their phones as a form of ID in places like bars, restaurants and banks, but it is up to the establishments to decide whether they accept the new format. Rolled out late last month, the technology that digitizes driver’s licenses or state IDs is part of an effort led by Theresa Szczurek, the state’s chief information officer, to modernize the way services are delivered.”

“The modification to point-of-sale software blocks each Juul purchase until the shopper’s driver’s license or other government identification has been scanned. It also limits each purchase to a maximum of one vaporizer and four refill packs. So far, Juul said, Cumberland Farms Inc., QuikTrip Corp. and other chains representing 40,000 outlets have agreed to adopt the system.”

“Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber & intelligence at Mastercard, said: “Our digital and physical lives are merging and we need a digital identity solution that reflects this reality. Without control over how their data is used, people rely on outdated systems that can compromise their security. Our collaboration with Samsung advances a digital identity solution that is bound to a trusted device – the mobile phone – which is used by millions of people every day.” People will soon be able to access a digital identity capability on their devices for interactions in both the physical and digital worlds. This will provide consumers with a more efficient way to interact with businesses and service providers, whether opening a bank account, accessing e-mail and social media, video streaming or shopping online.”

“The open source project, called Ion , deals with the underlying mechanics of how networks talk to each other. For example, if you log onto Airbnb using Facebook, a protocol deals with the software that sends the personal information from your social profile to that external service provider. In this case, Ion handles the decentralized identifiers, which control the ability to prove you own the keys to this data. Christopher Allen, a crypto veteran and the co-founder of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) working group for decentralized identity (DID) solutions , told CoinDesk that Microsoft’s move could impact the entire tech industry.”

“A blockchain-based digital identity network designed by Toronto-based SecureKey Technologies Inc. and supported by the top banks in Canada announced its official launch on Wednesday. Dubbed Verified.Me, the service has been a long time in the making and was originally slated for a release last Fall. Available via a web portal and a mobile app, it promises consumers a way to control their personal information: who it gets shared with, what they use it for, and what they can do with it. It also provides access to financial services in a way that makes it easy to prove you are who you say you are.”

“When you’re logging in to a Starbucks account, booking an Airbnb or making a reservation on OpenTable, loads of information about you is crunched instantly into a single score, then evaluated along with other personal data to determine if you’re a malicious bot or potentially risky human. Often, that’s done by a service called Sift, which is used by startups and established companies alike, including Instacart and LinkedIn, to help guard against credit-card and other forms of fraud. More than 16,000 signals inform the “Sift score,” a rating of 1 to 100, used to flag devices, credit cards and accounts owned by any entities—human or otherwise—that a company might want to block. This score is like a credit score, but for overall trustworthiness, says a company spokeswoman.”

“Mastercard (NYSE: MA) today introduced a vision for digital identity in today’s increasingly connected world.  A new paper, Restoring Trust in a Digital World , presents a detailed framework of how digital identity will work, starting with the individual sitting at the heart of every digital interaction. Guiding this model are Mastercard’s Principles of Digital Identity that will underpin the system.  These principles focus on data rights and ownership, confidentiality, consent, transparency, security and inclusion.  They amount to a fundamental individual right: “I own my identity and I control my identity data.””