Digitial Identity

Apr 27 2023

WPF Executive Director to serve as Senior Rapporteur for ID4Africa workshops regarding policy and regulatory challenges for digital identity and privacy and data protection in ID systems

The World Privacy Forum is pleased to announce Executive Director Pam Dixon has been invited to serve as the Senior Special Rapporteur for two workshops at the 2023 ID4Africa Annual General Meeting which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya 23-25 May. ID4Africa is regarded as the single most important gathering of identity experts and authorities in the world. The focus of Dixon’s rapporteur work will include policy and regulatory challenges for digital identity: the African perspective (Workshop 2), and privacy and data protection in identity systems (Workshop 4)…

Nov 18 2022

India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT has opened a consultation on its freshly proposed comprehensive privacy legislation, DPDP 2022

After many study commissions and multiple serious attempts at a comprehensive data privacy bill, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has proposed a new draft privacy bill, and has opened a public consultation regarding the draft until 17 December 2022. The Ministry states that the proposed bill, the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022

Sep 16 2022

Identity ecosystems are a central aspect of global digitalization; the principle of Do No Harm must be a policy priority and commitment

Identity is a data-rich resource that acts as a key to connect all levels of emerging digital ecosystems. All forms of ID carry some risk, but digital forms of ID, or “dematerialized ID,” cuts across all sectors and links copious data about individuals, their behaviors, financial status, associates, and potentially even political and religious views. Over time, distinct patterns emerge from the linked data and create new kinds of risks for individuals and groups. As the world becomes increasingly and intensely digitalized, we can expect challenges in the identity space to grow apace unless proactive attention is given to identifying and mitigating the current and future risks.

May 16 2022

ISPI Forum on Digital Transformation, WPF speaker

The Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) will be holding a High Level Forum on Digital Transformation in connection with OECD. The event will be held 16 May 2022 in hybrid format. WPF will be speaking about what risks exists for consumers arising from illicit use of their personal data, and also approaches for

Nov 16 2021

WPF mini documentary on challenges in ID systems – launching 17 November

WPF is launching a mini-documentary about problems in identity systems on 17 November, 2021. Digital identity systems are generally accepted as positive tools for social good. Nevertheless, they can pose several dangers and cause significant concerns. This mini-documentary takes viewers on a tour around the world to hear from real people as they interact with identity systems in their own

National IDs Around the World — Interactive map

About this Data Visualization: This interactive map displays the presence...
Report: From the Filing Cabinet to the Cloud: Updating the Privacy Act of 1974

This comprehensive report and proposed bill text is focused on the Privacy Act of 1974, an important and early Federal privacy law that applies to the government sector and some contractors. The Privacy Act was written for the 1970s information era -- an era that was characterized by the use of mainframe computers and filing cabinets. Today's digital information era looks much different than the '70s: smart phones are smarter than the old mainframes, and documents are now routinely digitized and stored and perhaps even analyzed in the cloud, among many other changes. The report focuses on why the Privacy Act needs an update that will bring it into this century, and how that could look and work. This work was written by Robert Gellman, and informed by a two-year multi-stakeholder process.
COVID-19 and HIPAA: HHS’s Troubled Approach to Waiving Privacy and Security Rules for the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic strained the U.S. health ecosystem in numerous ways, including putting pressure on the HIPAA privacy and security rules. The Department of Health and Human Services adjusted the privacy and security rules for the pandemic through the use of statutory and administrative HIPAA waivers. While some of the adjustments are appropriate for the emergency circumstances, there are also some meaningful and potentially unwelcome privacy and security consequences. At an appropriate time, the use of HIPAA waivers as a response to health care emergencies needs a thorough review. This report sets out the facts, identifies the issues, and proposes a roadmap for change.