National digital ID plan sparks ‘Australia Card’ warnings By Nick Bonyhady February 10, 2022 https://www.theage.com.au/technology/national-digital-id-plan-sparks-australia-card-warnings-20220209-p59v1t.html
The states and territories have agreed to work with the federal government on a national digital ID system, sparking fresh warnings from privacy advocates who have likened the proposal to the controversial ‘Australia Card’ plan of the 1980s. A joint communique released this week outlined a proposed system that would allow Australians to create a verified online login that could then be connected to an array of state and federal services, potentially through platforms such as Services NSW, Service Victoria and the federal MyGov. (More than 7 million Australians have already signed up to a federal digital ID system, according to figures from Minister Stuart Robert’s office.) It could mean only one login would be required to prove a person’s identity, rather than supplying paper documents like a passport or birth certificate, when asking for a state service like a vehicle registration, a federal provision like welfare or potentially even when dealing with a business. Federal authorities have been developing a digital identity system since 2015, and it is already in use for many Commonwealth services, but the communique issued this week from data and digital ministers confirms that states and territories are now involved in the process. “Ministers agreed to work towards a world-first national trusted digital identity system,” the communique, which was sent on Tuesday but dated last Friday, reads. “An interoperable national system will enable citizens to quickly and easily verify their identity when accessing government services online, such as applying for a licence or Tax File Number.” A draft federal law to enable much of the project, called the Trusted Digital Identity Bill, was unveiled for consultation late last year but has not yet been introduced to Parliament. Each state will ultimately decide how and if to integrate the system with their services, a spokesman for the responsible federal minister, Stuart Robert said. Under the proposed scheme, Australians would have a choice of several ways of creating their digital ID, which could be through a federal agency, a state or approved private provider such as a bank. Users would then choose the services to use with their login. Australian Privacy Foundation chair David Vaile said the plan deserves as much scrutiny as the Australia Card, which was proposed by the Hawke government but withdrawn in 1987 following a bitter public debate. “There was a very bad lesson learned in the 1980s with the Australia Card. That was the last time a national ID card system was called by its name and addressed frankly with all of its issues,” Mr Vaile said. “Since then you’ve had attempts to [appear to] run a mile from the direction you’re heading in.” But Mr Robert’s spokesman rejected comparisons to the Australia Card, saying the digital identity system was completely controlled by the user and did not come with a single identifier that could be used to track people. The system was designed to ensure that whichever agency vouched for a user’s identity would not know what services they used, and those services would only get the necessary identity information. Privacy protections in the system been independently assessed and were backed by rules in the government’s bill, the spokesman said. “With Digital Identity, only the information that is required is shared and it’s also clear what information is being provided to the service,” the spokesman said. Privacy advocates are concerned that the proposal has the potential to create a lifelong store of data that governments could be tempted to link together, enabling discrimination or surveillance. “A digital identity system, it has the highest risk of undermining the core driver of data protection regulation in the modern world, which is you can have personal info, use it, or even transfer it for the purpose it was collected,” said Mr Vaile. “But you can’t create a massive dossier of everything you’ve collected and use it for whatever you like.” James Clark, the executive director at advocacy group Digital Rights Watch, agreed and said governments were “pushing ahead with a pretty fraught proposal without a proper debate”. In recent years Australians have largely acquiesced to government digital services. Government figures show more than 7 million Australians are already using a federal digital ID system called MyGovID to log on and access government services. While Australians have also enthusiastically adopted social media services that use extensive customer data, breaches involving companies such as Facebook have thrown a spotlight on privacy issues. Mr Robert’s spokesman said the digital identity system was reducing fraud, helping citizens access government services at any time of day or night and improving privacy. “We are working closely with the states and territories to ensure we’re able to support identity verification for services across all levels of government,” the spokesman said. A NSW government spokesman confirmed the state was working with the federal government on the project, which would be opt-in. “Both governments are committed to keeping customer trust, privacy, security and robust fraud protection design principles at the core of the program,” the spokesman said. A Victorian government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. Paul Nicolau, executive director of Business Sydney, praised the NSW government’s increased use of digital services. “Digitisation of data has been a great leap forward for business and consumers as shown with the ease of vaccination proof shared data between Federal and NSW Government,” Mr Nicolau said. “It has saved businesses time and money in safeguarding customers and sped up other interactions and the interface between consumers, businesses and government service.” Nick Bonyhady is the technology editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Sydney. He is a former industrial relations and politics reporter.Connect via Twitter or email. _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
