EU Takes Step Closer to Implementing Digital Identity Wallet for Citizens and Businesses
The European Parliament has taken a step towards implementing a digital wallet across the European Union by voting in favor of initiating negotiations with EU member states on the revision of the new European Digital Identity framework.
The vote received 418 favorable votes, 103 opposing votes, and 24 abstentions.
With the endorsement, the EU council is now set to begin discussions on the final version of the legislation, taking into account the amendments adopted by the Industry, Research and Energy Committee in February, which includes the zero-knowledge proof standard for eID amendments to allow citizens to maintain full control of their identity data.
According to the European Parliament, the proposed plan would enable citizens to verify and validate their identity online, utilizing a European digital identity wallet, without depending on commercial providers, which has been a cause for concern regarding security, trust, and privacy.
The eID legislative proposal, which was introduced in June 2021, has the objective of creating a “European Digital Identity” and a specialized digital wallet that can be used by businesses and citizens in the EU.
The “European Digital Identity Wallet,” also called EDIW, intends to provide people and companies in the EU the capability to store their identity details such as names and addresses, and digitized documents, including bank account data, birth certificates, diplomas, and other documents that can be utilized for cross-border purposes.
