Digital citizenship and the right to digital identity under international law
Introduction
A specific digital identity for government dealings is now emerging as governments around the world1move their services and transactions on-line. Digital identity, as used in this article, consists of the digitally recorded information about a natural person, which is recorded under the particular e-government scheme. This digital identity is generally required for services ranging from social security benefits and employment assistance to health care and tax filing.2 Thus, digital identity is now the primary means by which a natural person can access these services.3
This transition to this new scheme is underway in the United States, Australia and many Asian countries, but is most advanced in European countries, with GOV.UK4 and e-Estonia being examples.5 Estonia has moved all services to digital delivery while in other countries like the United States and Australia, the move has been more gradual and incremental. Irrespective of how the scheme is established and marketed, if an individual has a digital identity to transact under the scheme, it is a digital identity scheme, and that definition is used in this article.
Of the countries that are incrementally implementing these schemes, Australia is notable for its candour about the impact on individuals. The Australian government has unequivocally stated that Australia is moving to what it calls “digital citizenship”.6 The Australian government acknowledges the importance of digital identity and the significant implications in the event of it being compromised:
In an era where our online identity is central to accessing information and services, ensuring the integrity of that identity is increasingly important. The loss or compromise of our online identity can have wide-ranging implications, including financial loss, emotional distress and reputational damage.7
Significantly, the Australian government also states that:
… there would be value in revisiting the distribution of responsibility among individuals, businesses and governments …. Developing a common understanding of a model of accountable and responsible digital citizenship – a digital social contract – may need to be part of the debate about Australia's digital future.8
It is against this background that this article examines what a digital social contact should include with regard to digital identity. This article focuses on rights of an individual in his/her digital identity because of its commercial and personal significance. A human right to identity arises under international law. The argument presented in this article is that in the context of a government scheme that requires use of digital identity to transact, this right to identity now takes specific form as the right of an individual to an accurate, functional and unique digital identity.
Section snippets
The significance of digital identity
The full implications of digital identity are becoming apparent as governments around the world move services and transactions9 on-line. 10
Composition and functions of digital identity
A feature of schemes that require digital identity for transactions is that they consist of two sets of information – a small set of defined information, which must be presented for a transaction i.e. transaction identity; and a larger collection of more detailed ‘other information’, which is updated on an on-going basis. These two sets of information collectively comprise ‘digital identity’ as explained below.
Because of its nature and functions, transaction identity is the most important part
The implications of digital identity for individuals
Given the nature and functions of transaction identity, the impact of system error is especially potentially profound for an ‘innocent’ individual. Regardless of whether the error is accidental or induced by misuse of the identity by another person, the misuse compromises the integrity of the digital identity. That can have serious and long term impact, affecting reputation and legal and commercial standing.
The challenge faced by an innocent individual has two aspects. Difficulty can arise in
Individual rights and duties in digital identity and digital citizenship
To date, the right to privacy has been the main focus of legal scholarship and policy development. The argument presented in this article is that the right to privacy is inherently inadequate; and that instead, the right to identity should now be recognized and protected in relation to digital identity. There are a number of reasons why the right to identity should be recognized and protected in this context.
First, privacy is comparatively ineffective in protecting transaction identity. The
The human right to identity as an essential component of digital citizenship
The right to identity is a fundamental human right which arises at birth. Unlike the right to privacy,39 the right to identity does not cease on death. The nature of the right to identity sits well with the nature, functions and new importance of
Conclusion
Digital identity is fundamentally changing the way government provides essential services, and transacts with its citizens. Transaction identity is the most significant part of digital identity. Its integrity and functionality is important to government agencies and private sector businesses requiring that digital identity for transactions and to the government, as scheme administrator. However, the accuracy and functionality of transaction identity is most important to individuals. Yet digital
Dr Clare Sullivan, LLM, MBA, PhD, is a Professor at the Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA. She is also a Fellow at the Center for National Security and the Law, Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.
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2021, World DevelopmentCitation Excerpt :Despite the limited data collected, the Aadhaar biometric identification in India also raises the question that ‘without adequate institutional safeguards and well-established democratic practices, such a system can result in a greater concentration of power in the hands of a government, allowing scope for misuse’ (Sen, 2019). As the drive to reduce fraud, impersonation, and costs increasingly requires that a person has a single digital identity and use only this identity to transact with government, the stakes become higher: in relation to a person’s existence on the register, the accuracy of the information recorded, its protection from misuse, and the means by which problems can be challenged and corrected (Sullivan, 2016, 2018). Thus, it is argued that the government’s role should rather be ‘identity assurance’ than ‘identity management’ (Whitley, 2018, pp. 23, 46–49).
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Dr Clare Sullivan, LLM, MBA, PhD, is a Professor at the Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA. She is also a Fellow at the Center for National Security and the Law, Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.