After developing the concept of the so-called Covid passports, the European Commission made a new proposal – the creation of a global identity system for the European Union. She called it a “digital wallet”. MEP Prof. Zdzisław Krasnodębski (PiS) notes that this proposal “may raise doubts” and is an example of “centralization trends in the European Union”.
A private application is to allow access to various services, both private and public, that require identity confirmation. Its use, as confirmed by the European Commission, should be optional.
With a single click on the phone, citizens will be able to Prove your identity and share electronic documents from your digital identity wallet (eg driver’s license, diplomas, bank account).
The European Commission emphasizes that EU wallets will enable all EU citizens to access online services without the need to use special identification methods or unnecessary disclosure of personal data. It’s supposed to make it easier.
Large online platforms will be required to accept digital ID wallets. I will also be able to use it for EU companies.
The European Digital ID will allow us to carry out the same activities in every Member State, without additional costs and obstacles. This may be renting an apartment or opening a bank account outside our country of origin. This can be done in a secure and transparent manner. So we will be able to decide how much information we want to pass on about ourselves, to whom and for what purpose. This is a unique opportunity to experience life in Europe and being more European – Margrethe Vestager, Vice-President of the European Commission said recently.
MEP Prof. However, Zdzisław Krasnodębski (PiS) believes that the proposal to create a global system for the European Union emphasizes identity It may be questionable in some Member States.
We all know how disagreements arose in negotiating the Covid app. In the end, a great deal of freedom was left to the member states as to how to proceed. I do not suppose that the next European Commission proposal will pass without discussion and disagreement, given, for example, that some societies are very sensitive to the storage of personal data – He said.
He added that the proposal was an example of the trend of centralization in the European Union.
It is expected that just as climate policy leads to centralization, the entire digital strategy can lead this trend. (…) I think that we are going through a rather difficult period, which may end with a rapid increase in the competencies of the European Union institutions and a further reduction in the powers of states. – He said.
The European Commission wants to implement the digital wallet as quickly as possible. Therefore, he called on member states to agree on this by September 2022 by developing a “toolkit” that includes technical architecture, standards and best practice guidelines.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke about the fact that the European Commission would introduce such a project in her State of the Union address on September 16, 2020.
Every time an app or website asks us to create a new digital identity or suggests logging in easily across a large platform, we have no idea what’s really going on with our data. Therefore, the Commission will propose a secure European electronic identity. A system that we can trust and that every citizen can use anywhere in Europe, for example, to pay a tax or rent a bike – I argued then.
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