Digital Identity Management: Enabling Innovation and Trust in The Internet Economy

DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
Enabling Innovation and Trust in

the Internet Economy
2011
DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
Enabling Innovation and Trust in

the Internet Economy
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
The OECD is a unique forum where governments work together to address the
economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also
at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new
developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information
economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a
setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to
common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and
international policies.
The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile,
the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The
Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD.
© OECD 2011
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without written permission. Applications should be sent to OECD Publishing:
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FOREWORD – 3
Foreword
When the OECD Working Party on Information Security and Privacy

(WPISP) initially explored the issue of digital identity in 2007, it brought
together experts from government, industry, academia and civil society
organisations across the OECD in a workshop in Trondheim, Norway. In the
concluding session, the Chair of the workshop highlighted that the
discussions revealed the confusion still surrounding digital identity
management on basic questions such as “what are we talking about?” and
“why are we talking about?” The discussions also highlighted the need for
further analysis and research, for common understanding, and to identify
policy directions.
This report on “Digital Identity Management of Natural Persons:
Enabling Innovation and Trust in the Internet Economy” represents the
culmination of four years of analytical work by the OECD between 2007
and 2011 to reduce this confusion and achieve a shared understanding
among OECD government policymakers about digital identity management
and its role in the Internet economy. After explaining what digital identity
management is and why it is fundamental for the further development of the
Internet Economy, it provides guidance to government policy makers for
developing digital identity management strategies that support innovation
across the public and private sectors while enhancing security, privacy and
trust online.
The three annexes reflect the progress of the work since 2007 and
provide more detailed information. The comparative analysis of “National
Strategies and Policies for Digital Identity Management in OECD
Countries” (Annex 1), developed in 2010-2011, provides a snapshot of the
intense activity of governments in 18 OECD member countries to shape and
implement public policies for digital identity. This analysis helped
characterise digital identity management as a fundamental enabler for
innovation in the Internet Economy and provided the essential knowledge
base for the development of the policy guidance reflected in the main
section.
The “Primer for Policymakers” on “The Role of Digital Identity
Management in the Internet Economy” (Annex 2) was developed in 2008-
2009 as a first attempt to clarify the main concepts related to digital identity
and to cover simple questions such as what is the importance of digital
DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT: ENABLING INNOVATION AND TRUST IN THE INTERNET ECONOMY – © OECD 2011
4 – FOREWORD
identity management, what are some illustrations of its usage and what are
the main policy considerations. The discussions in the WPISP to address
these fundamental questions revealed that much of the complexity
surrounding digital identity management was generally related to the variety
of facets of the subject matter (technical, organisational, legal, economic,
policy), to the differences of perceptions between experts with different
cultures and perspectives, and to an overarching confusion with respect to
terminology.
Finally, the “Report of the OECD Workshop on Digital Identity
Management” (Annex 3) summarises the discussions that took place at the
very beginning of this process in the above-mentioned workshop which
brought together various experts to explore the main policy issues
surrounding digital identity management.
These reports have been developed by the OECD Working Party on
Information Security and Privacy (WPISP) and declassified by its parent
body, the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications
Policy (ICCP) between 2007 and 2011. They benefited from input by
member countries and by the Business and Industry Advisory Committee
(BIAC), Civil Society Internet Society Advisory Council (CSISAC) and
Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC). They built on the expertise
of the WPISP in the area of electronic authentication since 1998 and, more
generally, on its work on security of information systems and networks and
privacy protection.
TABLE OF CONTENTS – 5
Table of contents
Guidance for government policy makers ....................................................................... 7

I. Digital identity management is at the core of the Internet economy ........................... 8
How does digital identity management work?............................................................ 8
Why is digital identity management essential for economic and social digital
interactions? ................................................................................................................ 9
What are the benefits of digital identity management to users? ............................... 10
What are the policy challenges? ............................................................................... 10
What is the role of governments? ............................................................................. 12
II. Policy guidance for governments ............................................................................. 13
Governments should adopt a clear national strategy for digital identity
management .............................................................................................................. 13
The potential long-term benefits to the broader Internet economy should be
kept in sight .............................................................................................................. 14
Existing offline identity management practices could be a natural starting place .... 14
E-government activities should be aligned with the national strategy...................... 15
A balanced digital credentials policy should be sought ............................................ 15
Policies for digital identity management should ensure both security and
privacy ...................................................................................................................... 16
Governments should work together to enable cross-border digital identity
management .............................................................................................................. 16
Notes................................................................................................................................. 17
References ........................................................................................................................ 18
Annex 1: National strategies and policies for digital identity management in
OECD countries........................................................................................... 19
Annex 2: The role of digital identity management in the Internet economy: a
primer for policy makers .......................................................................... 142
Annex 3: Report of the OECD workshop on digital identity management .......... 169
GUIDANCE FOR GOVERNMENT POLICY MAKERS – 7
Digital identity management for natural persons:

Enabling innovation and trust in the Internet economy
Guidance for government policy makers
This report builds on the findings of the 2011 comparative analysis of

national strategies for digital identity management in OECD countries. It
represents the culmination of several years of work on digital identity
management by the OECD Working Party on Information Security and
Privacy (WPISP). It was prepared by the Secretariat (Laurent Bernat of the
Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry) with Nick Mansfield,
consultant to the OECD.
The report, which had the benefit of input from the OECD Network on E-
Government, was declassified by the OECD Committee for Information,
Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) in October 2011.
Digital identity management is fundamental for the further development

of the Internet Economy. This document makes a case and offers guidance
to policy makers for developing strategies for the management of digital
identity of natural persons. It is the culmination of four years of analytical
work by the OECD Working Party on Information Security and Privacy
(WPISP) on a major policy issue at the intersection of its activities on
security of information systems and networks and on privacy protection.
The guidance builds on the OECD Council Recommendation on Electronic
Authentication 1 and responds to the Seoul Ministerial Declaration on the
Future of the Internet Economy.2 It is consistent with the 2002 OECD
Guidelines for the Security of Information Systems and Networks: Towards
a Culture of Security and the 1980 OECD Guidelines on the Protection of
Privacy and Transborder Data Flows of Personal Data.
The document explains why digital identity management is fundamental
for the further development of the Internet economy. It highlights the need
to address limitations in current approaches related to the complexity of
credential management and the robustness required for high value services.
It provides guidance to government policy makers for setting efficient
framework conditions for innovation across the public and private sectors
while enhancing security, privacy and trust in the Internet Economy.
8 – GUIDANCE FOR GOVERNMENT POLICY MAKERS
Digital identity management can be approached from many

perspectives. While recognising the importance, for example, of technology
and of business process reengineering for successfully implementing digital
identity management, this document focuses on the high level public policy
concepts, reflecting the view that economic and social objectives should
determine technical implementation rather than the reverse.
Identity management can be applied to human beings, business entities,
devices or software applications. This guidance focuses on natural persons
(“individuals”) interacting with the information systems of public and
private organisations (“service providers”3) through a digital network such
as the Internet.
The first section introduces digital identity management from a public
policy perspective as an enabler for innovation and trust in the Internet
economy. The second section includes policy guidance for the development
of national strategies for digital identity management.
I. Digital identity management is at the core of the Internet economy
Back in the mid 1990s, in the early days of the World Wide Web, the
capacity for anybody connected to the Internet to access information, simply
by clicking on hyperlinks, was revolutionary. However, within the span of a
few years, another revolution took place: the possibility for individuals to
establish interactions with remote computer systems which were able to take
into account who they are in order to deliver information and services in a
personalised manner.
This evolution of the Web from a publishing medium to an interactive
platform for the delivery of personal services enabled electronic commerce,
electronic government, and many other rich and diverse online interactions,
from electronic health and electronic learning to social networks and the
broader participative web. The possibility for individuals to establish a
personalised interaction with, and to be recognised by, a remote computer
system has been a major step. It has ushered in a decade of innovation,
enabling Internet services to become pervasive, ubiquitous and increasingly
essential in everyday life. It has transformed our economies and societies,
serving as a building block for the Internet economy.4
How does digital identity management work?
The management of digital identity enables trusted remote interactions
between an organisation and an individual.5 Managing the digital identity
lifecycle generally involves several processes6:
1. In order to be known by the system, the individual must first register

with it and the conditions related to his/her identity or identity
attributes must be checked so he/she can be provided with a set of
credentials; this is the so-called registration or enrolment process.
2. Appropriate permissions and privileges to access the organisation’s
resources must be assigned to the individual, a process often called
authorization.
3. To access resources, the individual makes an identity claim that can
be verified: he/she logs into the system with the credentials provided
during the registration process. This authentication process7
establishes confidence in the user’s identity.
4. The result of the authentication process is used in a process called
access control, whereby the system checks that the individual has
the appropriate authorisation to access the resource.
5. When the individual is not associated anymore with the system, a
revocation process must take place whereby his/her credentials are
rescinded.
Why is digital identity management essential for economic and

social digital interactions?
These processes already exist in the physical world, but in many
instances, we do not pay attention to their existence: for example, when we
want to open a bank account and are asked to show credentials to prove our
identity; when we use our employee badge to enter the premises of our
employer’s facilities; when we show an identity document to vote at
national elections; or when we want to buy alcohol and have to prove our
age. Identity management in the physical world helps address risks
associated with human interactions and increases confidence between the
parties interacting. It is therefore fundamental for economic and social life.
The same is true online, where the lack of a demonstrable link between a
physical person and a digital identity can create additional uncertainties that
do not exist offline.
What is at stake from a public policy point of view is the development
of effective and efficient digital identity management strategies to fully
realise the economic and social potential of the Internet by migrating
economic and social interactions online and unleashing innovation to create
trust-based digital services.
What are the benefits of digital identity management to users?

Digital identity management is essential to the security of the organi-
sation that grants access to resources in its information system. It is also
essential to the security of the individual who accesses these resources,
particularly when they belong or relate to him/her (e.g. money in a bank, or
personal data such as a medical record). By offering security and privacy,
digital identity management enables the establishment of a trusted relation-
ship between remote parties.
Digital identity management does not offer a binary choice between full
assurance or no assurance regarding the parties to an interaction. It offers a
range of levels of assurance, as appropriate (e.g. low, medium or high). The
rationale for selecting the level of assurance primarily includes its alignment
with the level of risk carried by the interactions between the parties. If the
level of assurance is lower than the level of risk, the parties are likely not to
interact (e.g. a low level of assurance will not enable to secure a high value
transaction). Reversely, asking individuals to provide too high a level of
assurance might deter them from carrying out medium or low risk inter-
actions, which do not seem to demand it. Indeed, in the physical world, we
are used to being asked to prove our identity or to exhibit identity attributes
when it is justified by the level of risk involved in a given interaction.
Ensuring proportionality is even more important online because of the
capacity of information systems to store identity information and transaction
records indefinitely.8
Furthermore, in some cases, the delivery of services online enables a
higher degree of privacy protection than what is possible offline. For
example, it is difficult in the physical world to validate identity attributes
like age or marital status without identifying an individual or to establish
legally binding trusted offline interactions based on the use of pseudonyms.
Such privacy protective mechanisms are however possible online.
Ensuring the highest level of privacy protection that technology enables,
consistent with the appropriate level of assurance, is critical to further
developing the market for online services, and in particular medium and
high value ones.
What are the policy challenges?

While digital identity management has provided the access ramp to the
online migration of offline services and to the creation of new digital
services, there remains room for progress.
• First, many current digital identity management practices have

limitations that may impede their continued positive impact on the
development of the Internet economy.
To interact with service providers, individuals have to register
before they can start using a service and, each time thereafter, they
have to be authenticated with the appropriate credentials created in
the registration process (e.g. minimally, a login identity and a shared
secret such as a password). As individuals increasingly register with
a growing number of services, the complexity of managing ever
more personal credentials becomes an impediment. It may create an
unfair advantage for well-established service providers if users
hesitate to join new alternative services to limit the total number of
their credentials. Likewise, it can generate security weaknesses if
users opt for easy-to-remember but weak passwords and/or reuse
them across many services, creating a vulnerability in most of their
accounts as soon as one is compromised. Users may also keep their
passwords together in an insecure file or on a piece of paper,
creating a “single point of failure” that an intruder can exploit.
• Second, many widespread digital identity management practices
currently in use are not robust enough to support the development of
higher value services which carry a higher level of risk.
The number of offline services offered online has kept increasing
since the early days of the Internet. However, a number of services
are not yet available online because they require a level of assurance
which is higher than what most digital identity management
practices currently enable. Three main factors explain this situation:
− A third party has often been considered to provide a high level
of assurance regarding parties to an interaction. This third party,
often called an “identity provider”, is responsible for carrying
out the registration of the individuals, for establishing their
identity, and for issuing credentials. As the cost of these
operations is relatively high, market forces do not seem to be
sufficient for general high assurance identity providers to
emerge, although there are some niche examples.
− Moreover, to check an identity claim, high level of assurance
services often require government “certified” information
included in an identity card, driver’s license, passport, social
security card, birth certificate, marital status certificate, etc.
Where no reliable mechanism exists to provide such elements
online, the delivery of high level of assurance services requires
an offline manual process. This expensive step impedes the

overall economic efficiency of the digital identity management
process and the online migration of high value services as much
as it prevents the creation of new digital services.
− Finally, a circular situation exists whereby on the one hand,
service providers are holding back from investing in new
services until a critical mass of individuals use strong authentic-
cation credentials and, on the other hand, individuals are waiting
for a critical mass of services that require strong authentication
before they adopt the technology.
• Third, digital credentials providing a high level of identity assurance
are not internationally recognised, preventing cross-border high
value interactions.
What is the role of governments?

While many economic and social actors provide low, medium and high
level of assurance credentials, governments are generally the primary issuers
of the most trustworthy credentials for individuals’ identity attributes such
as their name, citizenship, date of birth, civil status (parenthood, marital
status, etc.).
Although the form of these government issued credentials varies across
countries, they generally enable high value public and private services
offline. To migrate such services online and foster the blossoming of
innovative digital high value services, market players need to establish end-
to-end digital identity management processes. Therefore, the fact that a
process or a tool provided by the government is not available in a digital
form is currently a barrier which only governments can remove.
In addition, governments have the capability, as providers of essential
online services to the whole population, to help generate a critical mass of
high-value services and a critical mass of individuals equipped and trained
to manage a high level of assurance credentials. Acting as model users, they
can establish practices for themselves which can create the conditions for
the emergence of user-friendly digital identity management solutions.
Governments can take leadership and act as catalysts, promoting flexible
policies for all stakeholders and creating favourable market and regulatory
conditions for long term viability. Finally, governments also have a
responsibility to ensure that digital identity management practices take
advantage of technologies to enhance individuals’ privacy where possible.
Governments are currently developing and implementing national

strategies for the management of digital identity.9 Making good policy
choices today can positively influence the market in the long run and enable
the further development of the Internet economy.
II. Policy guidance for governments
The principles below are based on the recognition that:

• Identity management is essential to provide trusted interactions
between parties in the online and the physical worlds.
• Digital identity management is critical to the development of the
Internet economy and brings considerable economic and social
benefits by i) enabling innovative low, medium and high value
online public and private services; ii) supporting the more efficient
use of organisational resources; and iii) improving user convenience
online.
• The development in the digital world of high-value trust-based
economic and social activities that exist in the physical world is an
important policy objective.
• Governments can facilitate high-value trust-based economic and
social interactions online as providers of essential means for
enabling high level identity assurance and as a driving force to help
market players adopt consistent identity management practices.
• The development of identity management practices that support
high-value services online should not replace their offline counter-
parts, so long as Internet access remains a challenge for some citizens.
Governments should adopt a clear national strategy for digital

identity management
A clear national strategy for digital identity management is essential to
the further migration of existing offline economic and social services to the
digital world, to the creation of innovative online public and private services,
and therefore to the continued development of the Internet economy.
It should aim to benefit the society at large, including businesses,
citizens and the government, and minimise the risks that undermine trusted
interactions online. The process for developing the strategy should be
inclusive of all stakeholders with a view to identify and take into account
their needs.
The potential long-term benefits to the broader Internet economy

should be kept in sight
Governments should recognise the need for and the complexity of
achieving long term objectives such as the migration online of public and
private high-value services. They should clearly distinguish these long term
objectives from short and medium term means to accomplish them. They
should also avoid short term solutions which could impede the achievement
of the long term goals. As identity management is a crosscutting area,
involving many participants, and where small changes can have wide-
ranging implications, a phased incremental policy approach involving all
stakeholders may be needed to ensure long term success.
Where the national strategy is focused on e-government, policies should
be designed to extend the benefits to the rest of the economy and society in
the medium and long term, including by, as appropriate:
• Helping reach a critical mass of high value services based on high
level of assurance mechanisms and a critical mass of individuals
using high level of assurance credentials.
• Supporting a clear framework providing a degree of harmonisation
for digital identity management at the national level.
• Promoting digital identity solutions that are sufficiently flexible to
take advantage of future technical developments; Avoiding policies
which can restrict or inhibit innovation within the broader Internet
economy.
• Fostering interoperability of e-government digital identity with non-
governmental identity solutions.
Existing offline identity management practices could be a natural

starting place
Government identity management policies and practices are deeply
rooted in countries’ history, culture and style of government. Most govern-
ment strategies for digital identity management can therefore consider
building upon their existing identity management system, introducing
evolutions where appropriate. For countries without established offline
identity management policies and practices, the migration to the digital
world is likely to be more complicated.
Where current offline identity management policies and practices are
not considered effective, they should be improved as they are migrated
online. For example, governments should take advantage of migrating
offline identity management practices online to improve privacy protection

through encouraging the minimisation of identity data collection where it is
not technically required to ensure an appropriate level of assurance.
Governments should recognise that the migration online of existing
offline identity management policies and practices is likely to carry with it
some of the same challenges that existed in the offline environment. For
example, barriers to cross-border identity management will not be solved
simply by migrating online. Similarly, digital identity management policies
will have to address fraud and other malicious activities just like their offline
counterparts.
E-government activities should be aligned with the national strategy

Digital identity management is a cross-cutting subject within the
government. In order for a national strategy to be fully efficient, identity
management policies and practices should be co-ordinated across the
government, regardless of the specificity of each e-government activity and
service.
A balanced digital credentials policy should be sought

The national strategy should aim to reduce or limit the number of digital
credentials that individuals have to use across public and private sector
services.
A balance should be found between the establishment of a unique
universal credential for all digital interactions – which is sensitive for
privacy reasons – and the multiplication of credentials that may impede
usability. User convenience could be enhanced, for example, by encouraging
the reduction of the number of credentials used for lower level of assurance
interactions, by encouraging approaches where users have the choice of
what credentials and level of assurance to use (so-called user-centric
approaches), or by fostering the adoption of credentials providing a high
level of assurance. The reduction of the number of credentials should not
take place at the expense of privacy protection but should rather be based on
privacy-friendly technologies.
Policies for digital identity management should ensure both security

and privacy
The level of assurance regarding the identity of the parties involved
should be based on an assessment of the level of risk in the transactions.
To establish trust, digital identity management practices and require-
ments should be proportionate to the level of risk in the interactions between
the parties. The potential impact on privacy of digital identity management
practices should be assessed and addressed as appropriate.
Digital identity management practices should respect legal privacy
protection requirements. The development and implementation of digital
identity management systems should include privacy protection, including
data security, from the outset. Taking advantage of the potential for the
technology to support both privacy and security, innovative technical
protection measures should reinforce privacy protection requirements
wherever possible, including through the use of pseudonyms where appro-
priate.
Governments should work together to enable cross-border digital

identity management
The potential for digital identity management to facilitate high value e-
government, e-commerce and other digital services across borders is
impeded by various obstacles. Governments and other stakeholders should
work towards reducing or minimising these obstacles. They should co-
operate to further develop mutual recognition of national digital identity
management approaches and to create the conditions for interoperability, for
example through the use of regional and international standards.
Notes
1. This guidance should be considered in conjunction with relevant analytical reports

listed in the references and in particular the comparative analysis of national
strategies for digital identity management (OECD, 2011).
2. In the Seoul Declaration, ministers declared that, to contribute to the development
of the Internet economy, they “will […] strengthen confidence and security, through
policies that […] ensure the protection of digital identities and personal data as well
as the privacy of individuals online.” See OECD, 2008b.
3. The expression “service providers” relate to providers of services on the Internet
and should not be confused with organisations which provide connectivity or access
to the Internet.
4. OECD, 2008a, page 4. See also OECD, 2008b.
5. Third parties can also be involved, for example, when identity providers participate
in the registration process.
6. Authorisation and access control processes can also be considered as belonging to
“access management” rather than to “digital identity management”.
7. The authentication process is further detailed in OECD, 2007a.
8. Practically, however, the assessment of the level of risk for an interaction depends
on many factors including the value of the transaction, the context in which it takes
place but also the amount of risk that the parties are accepting to take (i.e. “risk
appetite”). It is therefore possible that the parties will disagree on what level of
assurance is most appropriate or that similar transactions will require different levels
of assurance when carried out by different parties.
9. See OECD (2011), National Strategies and Policies for Digital Identity Management
in OECD countries, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5kgdzvn5rfs2-en.
References
On digital identity management and electronic authentication
OECD (2007a), “OECD Recommendation on Electronic Authentication and

OECD Guidance for Electronic Authentication”. Available at
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/45/38921342.pdf.
OECD (2007b), “Report of the OECD workshop on digital identity
management. Trondheim, Norway, 8-9 May 2007”. Available at
OECD (2009), “The Role of Digital Identity Management in the Internet
Economy: A Primer for Policy Maker”. Available at
OECD (2011), “National Strategies and Policies for Digital Identity
Management in OECD Countries”, OECD Digital Economy Papers, No.
177, OECD Publishing. doi: 10.1787/5kgdzvn5rfs2-en.
Other
OECD (1980), “OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and

Transborder Data Flows of Personal Data”. Available at
www.oecd.org/document/20/0,3746,en_2649_34255_15589524_1_1_1_
1,00.html.
OECD (2002), “OECD Guidelines for the Security of Information Systems
and Networks: Towards a Culture of Security”. Available at
www.oecd.org/document/42/0,2340,en_2649_34255_15582250_1_1_1_
1,00.html.
OECD (2008a), “Seoul Declaration on the Future of the Internet Economy”.
Available at www.oecd.org/dataoecd/49/28/40839436.pdf.
OECD (2008b), “Shaping Policies for the Future of the Internet Economy”.
Available at www.oecd.org/dataoecd/1/29/40821707.pdf.
ANNEX 1: NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND POLICIES FOR DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT IN OECD COUNTRIES – 19
Annex 1
National strategies and policies for digital identity

management in OECD countries
This report is based on responses to the Questionnaire on National

Strategies and Policies for Digital Identity Management (IdM) in OECD
Countries circulated to the delegations of the OECD Working Party on
Information Security and Privacy (WPISP) and to the OECD Senior Network
of e-government Officials between December 2009 and June 2010 (Appendix
III).
The report includes a detailed analysis, a list of references, country
summaries (Appendix I) and a contribution by the Internet Technical
Advisory Committee (ITAC) (Appendix II). It has been developed by the
Secretariat (Laurent Bernat of the Directorate for Science, Technology and
Industry) with expert input from Nick Mansfield, consultant to the OECD.
The Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy
(ICCP) declassified this report at its 61st session on 16-17 March 2011.
© OECD 2011
20 – ANNEX 1: NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND POLICIES FOR DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT IN OECD COUNTRIES
Key findings
The following 18 countries responded to the 2010 OECD questionnaire

on National Strategies and Policies for Digital Identity Management:
Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Turkey and the United States. All of them have or plan to develop a
national strategy for Identity Management (IdM) or a set of policies which,
taken together, represent such a strategy. They are at various stages of
development and implementation.
The analysis of the responses focuses on governments’:
• Vision and strategy for digital identity management. The vision
describes the overarching objective of the government for
developing their strategy, the intended future state that it wants to
reach through the strategy. The strategy describes the main elements
of the plan to realise the vision.
• Policies for digital identity management. The policies describe the
set of tools (laws, plans, actions, etc.) developed to implement the
strategy.
Vision and strategy
Vision: the main objectives for national IdM strategies are to realise
e-government, to foster innovation in public and private e-services
and strengthen cybersecurity.
For most countries, the overarching objective or vision for the
development of a national IdM strategy is the realisation of electronic
government. In addition to e-government, most countries also aim to foster
innovation in the broader Internet economy, either explicitly or implicitly,
either immediately or in the longer term. Two countries consider cyber-
security as the fundamental objective for their strategy rather than e-govern-
ment and/or the development of the broader Internet economy. Although
their vision has a different focus, the strategy of these two countries does not
fundamentally differ from that of the other countries. Generally, however,

innovation, e-government and cybersecurity can be identified in all
countries’ approaches. Variations are essentially related to the level where
these dimensions are addressed (vision, strategy or policy). Fostering
innovation in the broader Internet economy is a shared objective by a
majority of responding countries but is not always explicitly mentioned as
such. It can, however, be deduced from key aspects of their strategy and
policies.
National IdM strategies aim to benefit businesses, citizens and the
government. They are considered a key enabler for innovation in the public
and private sectors: as they facilitate the generalisation of stronger electronic
authentication, they enable higher value services that require a high level of
security assurance to be offered. They are also expected to have economic
benefits in terms of reducing costs and increasing productivity in the public
sector and to foster usability of online services. Increased trust or assurance
about identities online – or even bi-directional trust between parties
transacting or communicating online – is also highlighted as a key benefit
for all participants.
Strategy: the primary focus of national IdM strategies is the public

administration with expected spillovers in the private sector.
The scope of all national IdM strategies encompasses public sector
online services. Some countries favour a “universal approach”, i.e. an
approach that includes public/private sector use of digital credentials to
support the broader Internet economy.1 Others plan to extend to the private
sector the use of digital credentials – or digital credentials’ framework –
established for the public sector. All national strategies address all layers of
public administration, regardless of their level of autonomy. This aspect is
often highlighted as a challenge.
Most countries recognise the leadership role of the government for
better digital identity management in the Internet economy. The imple-
mentation of the e-government dimension of their strategy generally appears
as a priority. However, the expected impact of these strategies on innovation
extends beyond e-government to the broader Internet economy: govern-
ments can be seen as also willing to use the e-government side of their IdM
strategies to try to foster identity management beyond e-government. Their
strategies recognise, often implicitly, that the strong authentication market is
limited by a circular situation: on the one hand, service providers are waiting
for a critical mass of users to be equipped and informed in order to start
investing in new services that require strong authentication and, on the other
hand, users are waiting for a critical mass of services that require strong
authentication to be available in order to adopt the technology. Government

can be seen as trying to break the resulting status quo by:
• Creating a critical mass of strong authentication users and services.
The multiplication of e-government services that accept strong
authentication credentials, and in several cases the distribution of
digital credentials for strong authentication in the form of electronic
cards, can potentially break the circular problem of strong authentic-
cation.
• Supporting a clear IdM framework to establish a degree of harmoni-
sation for digital identity management at national level, thus
reducing uncertainty for market players regarding which strong
electronic authentication mechanisms to offer in order to participate
in and benefit from a network effect, as well as potentially spurring
investments and innovation.
To achieve this objective, IdM strategies lean towards reducing or
limiting the number of digital credentials individuals have to use across a
large number of services. Many countries also provide or plan to provide
single sign-on solutions to access public sector services. In other words,
most strategies can be seen as aiming to reduce either or both the number of
digital keys or credentials Internet users have to manage and the number of
digital keyholes or gateways they are facing when they try to access multiple
government services online.
Strategy: National IdM strategies generally adopt an evolutionary
approach based on existing offline identity regulations and practices rather
than a revolutionary one.
All governments seem to automate and migrate their existing IdM
business processes, they do not reengineer or reinvent them for the digital
world. National IdM strategies reflect and respect national cultures, styles of
government and offline identity management traditions. For example, all
responding countries which have launched a national electronic identity card
have actually migrated their existing paper-based national card. The voluntary
or mandatory nature of the card was generally migrated as well. Countries
which have a tradition of a national population register or an existing national
identifier framework are using it as the basis for their digital identity
management strategy, sometimes adjusting existing infrastructures to electronic
use (e.g. networking or centralising existing population registers). There is no
example of a country which has created a national identity card or population
register without a pre-existing tradition. Countries which have other less
centralised offline identity management practices develop decentralised or
distributed approaches to digital identity management. This suggests that in
countries where offline identity management practices have never been

centralised throughout history, solutions are likely to be more complex with
the migration to the digital world.
Based on responding countries examples, one might conclude that
strategic approaches; i) recognise the specificity of the country; ii) extend to
the online environment the traditions, tools and processes that people are
used to offline; and iii) help individuals to improve their efficiency online.
The assessment of the cost and time required to successfully deploy national
electronic identity cards is likely to be radically different in a country with a
pre-existing national identity card framework to a country where there is no
such tradition.
A related key conclusion is that there does not appear to be such a thing
as a generic approach to digital identity management: identity management
approaches are culture-specific and cannot be easily transposed or
transported directly from one country to another.
Policies
Registration policies, i.e. the processes that establish the bond linking and
legally binding a citizen to his or her electronic identity, are either centralised
or decentralised and reflect how countries implement key aspects of their
democracy. For example, countries where local layers of public administration
are less autonomous tend to adopt a more centralised registration policy and,
conversely, decentralised, federated or distributed approaches are found in
countries where local layers of public administration are more autonomous.
Confirming the evolutionary strategic approach highlighted above, digital
identity management registration policies extend to the online world
registration policies already established for offline interactions.
The nature of the challenges related to digital identity management
interoperability, security and privacy and the characteristics of policies that
address them depend on the centralised or decentralised nature of the registra-
tion policy. For example, IdM registration policy influences the level of
interoperability that national policies can prescribe. In a country with a
decentralised IdM registration policy, interoperability is promoted in the
context of federation agreements. The common policy objectives are
described independently of the possible technical solutions to achieve them
and organisations participating in a federation agreement have the maximum
flexibility regarding how to technically achieve the objectives. In contrast,
countries following a centralised registration policy are more likely to adopt a
relatively more prescriptive approach regarding policy and technical choices.
Central registration policies raise privacy issues related to the use of a central
population register, unique identifiers and, where relevant, national identity
card frameworks. Decentralised registration policy provides each organisation
or jurisdiction with a high degree of autonomy with respect to the privacy

protection measures it establishes. The level of privacy protection provided to
individuals when interoperability is implemented depends on the trust
agreements between the various participants in the federation. A single
technical privacy protection solution cannot be imposed on participants in a
decentralised policy framework. Just as for interoperability, participants are
more likely to adhere to a set of privacy protection objectives and high level
measures than to detailed policy measures or technical mechanisms.
Interoperability is mostly addressed from the technical perspective by
responding countries. In some countries, IdM is included as part of the
technical infrastructures developed for interoperability. Some respondents
partially address interoperability issues within the public sector through a
national e-authentication framework or national interoperability framework.
Beyond the technical perspective, few other elements were provided on the
scope and scale of changes that might be necessary at the legal or business
process levels to achieve complete interoperability in identity systems across
the public and private sectors.
As regards security, many countries have a policy to promote the use of
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Most countries have established a digital
signature legislative framework and many promote the development of a PKI
market. The central and critical nature of the IdM function within the broader
e-government infrastructure is not mentioned by respondents as requiring
specific security policy attention.
With respect to privacy, all countries mention the application of their
existing legal privacy protection framework as their main policy tool to protect
privacy. Some countries implement strong privacy protection at the technical
level (“privacy by design”). When biometrics are included in digital credentials,
specific privacy safeguards are also implemented. Some countries consider data
breach notification as one way to increase privacy and security awareness. Most
countries do not consider the use of pseudonyms in their strategy and few
countries provide details on certificates’ suspension and revocation.
More generally, all countries recognise the key role of technical standards
with respect to interoperability in general, and security in particular.
Policies for the adoption of digital credentials can be either voluntary or
mandatory. Countries which have a tradition of mandatory offline credentials
generally migrate that policy online. In other countries, the adoption of the
digital credentials is voluntary. Governments have adopted a spectrum of
ways, ranging from persuasion to coercion, to encourage or mandate the use
of digital credentials by individuals and service providers.
Introduction
In November 2009, the OECD Secretariat circulated a questionnaire (cf.
Appendix III) to delegations of the Working Party on Information Security
and Privacy (WPISP) to gather information on their national strategies and
policies for digital identity management. The main objectives were to
illustrate and supplement the information provided in the report developed in
2008-2009 on The Role of Digital Identity Management in the Internet
Economy: A Primer for Policymakers (hereafter “Primer”).”2 It also sought to
analyse the commonalities and differences in national strategies for IdM3, in
policies for the implementation of these national strategies and in the
challenges faced by governments.
Eighteen countries responded to the survey: Australia, Austria, Canada,
Chile, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
New Zealand, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United
States4. Respondents represent a good balance in terms of geography, popula-
tion size, layers of government, diversity of cultures and styles of government.
They also represent a sample of different stages of advancement with respect
to development and implementation of IdM strategies, from preliminary
reflection or early development stage to full deployment.
Following the analysis of the responses, Appendix I includes country
summaries that have been developed to facilitate the analysis and provide a
digest knowledge base enabling further exploration of each country’s
approach. These summaries are based on responses sent by countries5 as well
as additional research carried out by the Secretariat6. Resources used to
prepare this report and cited by responding countries are listed, per country, at
the end of this report. Appendix II includes a contribution by the Internet
Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) to the ICCP Committee in relation to
digital identity management.
The scope of this report is limited to the management of digital identity of
natural persons. With a view to ensuring a manageable output, the scope does
not include specific aspects of digital identity management related to foreign
nationals or to individuals as representatives of businesses and other
organisations, cross-border aspects of identity management7, and other issues
such as the specific aspects of identity management frameworks for businesses
or the deployment costs of digital identity management frameworks. When
information on these dimensions has been provided by respondents, it is
reflected in the country summary. It is however not taken into account in the
analysis.
Analysis
This section includes an analysis of the eighteen responses received from

OECD member countries to the questionnaire on national strategies for digital
identity management, complemented by additional research. Responses
received from countries included a large amount of information, the analysis
of which is necessarily partial, reflecting only some aspects of the substance
provided. This section follows the main structure of the questionnaire circu-
lated to countries (National Strategies for IdM and Policies to implement the
strategies).
National strategies for IdM
Vision
All responding countries have developed, are developing or are
considering the development of a national IdM strategy. They are at various
stages of development and implementation.
Although all responding countries have initiated action with regards to
digital identity management, they are at various stages of development and
implementation of their strategy (cf. Table A1.1). Some are considering the
development of a strategy (Japan8) or have started to develop it (Chile, United
States), some are finalising the development of their strategy (Canada,
Luxembourg, Slovenia), some are initiating its implementation (Australia,
Germany), some are following up on an initial experience (Denmark), some
are quite advanced in the deployment of the main components of the strategy
(Italy, Korea, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) and others are already operating a
fully deployed strategy (Austria, Netherlands), and are continuously
improving it.
Table A1.1 Estimated status of National IdM Strategy development and implementation
Stage Development Implementation

Not started or planning Japan Canada, Chile, Japan, United States
stage
Early stage United States, Chile, Slovenia Germany, Australia, Luxembourg,
New Zealand, Slovenia, Turkey
Ongoing Canada, Luxembourg, Turkey Austria, Denmark, Italy, Korea,
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden
Final stage Australia, Germany
Fully developed Austria, Denmark, Italy, Korea,
Netherlands, New Zealand,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden
Two countries consider cybersecurity as the fundamental objective of

their strategy. For most other countries, the primary objective of the
development of a national IdM strategy is the achievement of electronic
government. However, in addition to e-government, most countries’ strategy
also aims to foster innovation in the broader Internet economy, either
explicitly or implicitly, either immediately or in the longer term.
While most countries have an explicit focus on e-government, many
strategies also include the management of digital identity in private sector
transactions and aim to foster innovation in and growth of the broader
Internet economy. This latter objective is generally less explicit in countries’
responses and is sometimes only revealed by detailed analysis of the scope
of their strategy (see Table A1.2) and other policy and implementation
characteristics. The main indicator is countries’ responses regarding inter-
sections or relationships between government and private sector identity
systems. In most cases, private sector use of digital credentials established
by the IdM framework established by the national strategy is possible (see
Table A1.2) either immediately (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Korea,
Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) or in the future (Canada and Italy).
Security and cybersecurity are the primary objectives of two other
countries in the development of their national IdM strategy, Australia and the
United States. Australia focuses on identity security as the main objective of
the national IdM strategy and places strong emphasis on the role played by
identity security for Australia’s national security and economic interests. The
strategy recognises that identity security is vital in protecting citizens from the
theft or misuse of their identities which often underpins terrorist and criminal
activity, undermines border and citizenship controls and efforts to combat the
financing of crime and terrorism. The 2009 US Cyberspace Policy Review

calls for a “cybersecurity-based identity management vision and strategy for
the Nation” to encompass identity aspects of securing online transactions
between businesses, individuals and governments.
Four observations can be made regarding these two exceptions:
It would be misleading to conclude that either or both countries ignore
the role of IdM to foster e-government and the broader Internet economy.
These two aspects are parts of their strategy but security and cybersecurity
are the main overarching objectives or vision through which both strategies
expect to reach these other goals. Similarly, it would probably be inaccurate
to conclude that the other countries neglect security and cybersecurity as
objectives of their IdM strategy: they are probably objectives as well but not
stated as their primary goal.
The main distinction between Australia and the United States as
compared to all others is the overarching nature of cybersecurity in the
formulation of their strategies. There are also many differences at a more
detailed level between their strategies and that of all other countries. They
are, however, not necessarily a consequence of this overarching distinction
and are more likely to stem from other factors such as national charac-
teristics, history and style of government, as explained below.
The strategies of these two countries are led by high levels of
government (Attorney General and White House) whereas other countries’
strategies which focus primarily on e-government tend to be led by more
specialised ministries and agencies.
As highlighted below, several countries have adopted the deployment of
an electronic national identity card as a key building block in their IdM
strategy. However, the overarching objective of their IdM strategy is
generally not security and therefore their strategy is generally not led by the
ministry responsible for security (e.g. interior), although this ministry often
plays an important role in the development and implementation of the
strategy.9 The two countries whose strategy primarily serves a security
objective have no plan for an electronic national identity card (they also
have no tradition of a paper based identity card).
Finally, Korea has an interesting and unique approach. In addition to
fostering e-government and innovation in the broader Internet economy, the
Korean national strategy for IdM also aims to address growing concerns
related to cyber violence. Korea has established an identification framework
(based on the i-Pin) which aims to increase the responsibility of Internet
users for their online behaviour while protecting individual freedom of
speech and privacy10.
Scope
National IdM strategies provide a framework within which participants
can innovate.
IdM strategies aim to facilitate the generalisation of stronger electronic
authentication thus enabling new public and private sector services (see
Benefits section below) to be offered. The strategies aim to use the
e-government side of their strategy to modify the current strong
authentication market’s status quo which deters the deployment of online
services carrying a higher level of risk and which are also likely to have a
high value.
Strong authentication mechanisms are expensive for service providers to
deploy. Strong authentication can only be more generally adopted if the
required investment by a majority of service providers is not too high and
exponential network growth starts to appear to create a critical mass.
However, market players do not know which strong authentication
mechanism will ultimately initiate this network effect. As a result, they are
caught in a circular (or “chicken and egg”) situation whereby, on the one
hand, service providers are waiting for a critical mass of users to be
equipped and informed to use strong authentication in order to start
investing in new services that require it and, on the other hand, users are
waiting for a critical mass of services that require strong authentication in
order to adopt the technology. National IdM strategies can be seen as an
attempt by governments to break this circular problem by generating a
critical mass of users and services through e-government services (and
sometimes by distributing digital credentials themselves to the population)
and by providing a degree of harmonisation for digital identity management
at a national level that reduces uncertainty for online service providers
regarding what mechanism to offer to benefit from a network effect.
The scope of IdM strategies always encompasses public sector online
services. Some countries favour a “universal approach”, i.e. encompassing
public/private sector use of credentials to support the broader Internet
economy. Others plan to extend the use of public sector digital credentials to
the private sector – or digital credentials’ framework. Most countries
recognise the leadership role of the government for the generalisation of
better digital identity management in the Internet economy. Government
single sign-on services are only available or anticipated for public sector
services, except in two countries where it also includes (or will include)
private sector services.
While some countries keep private sector use of credentials – or

credentials’ framework– established by the IdM strategy as a possibility for
the future (Australia, Italy), many others developed or are developing
universal approaches with digital credentials for both public and private
sector contexts (“universal credentials”) (Austria, Canada, Denmark,
German, Korea, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the United
States).
Austria, where “Citizen Cards” can be developed and offered by both
private and public entities for both public and private sector transactions, is
perhaps the best illustration of this approach. In Spain, both national
electronic identity card’s certificates and certificates issued by public and
private sector certificate authorities can be used in public and private sector
contexts. In Canada, although the federation model set out in the strategy
enables public and private use of public and private credentials, the current
focus is on e-government and the private sector aspects have not yet been
fully assessed or defined. The United States’ draft strategy explicitly focuses
on transactions involving the private sector, individuals and governments.
Other examples of universal public/private approaches include the Portuguese
strategy where the single sign-on service extends to include private sector
services and Denmark, where a universal single sign-on service is
envisaged11.
The Dutch strategy is limited to the public sector as a consequence of
the strict regulation of the national identity number which cannot be used by
the private sector. This is highlighted as a key challenge by the Dutch
government. In New Zealand, the strategy focuses on public sector services
but the government recognizes that an extension of some components to the
private sector would require further assessment.
Table A1.2. Scope of national IdM strategies with regards to public/private use of
credentials
Digital credentials can be used in:

Public and private sector contexts Australia*, Austria, Canada***, Chile, Denmark,
(currently or in the longer term) Germany, Italy*, Korea, Luxembourg, Portugal,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United States.
Public sector contexts only Japan**, Netherlands, New Zealand.
Single sign-on is or will be available for:

Public sector services Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Slovenia, Turkey.
Public sector services now and for private Denmark, Portugal.
sector services in the longer term
It is not considered Germany, Italy, Korea, New Zealand, Sweden,
United States.
Note: public sector refers to transactions between individuals, businesses or public sector bodies with
public sector bodies (i.e. C2G, B2G, G2G).
* The use by the private sector of digital credentials established by the Italian strategy is being considered
in the longer term. The use of the Australian national Document Verification Service by the private sector
is being considered. Several IdM initiative targeting private sector (businesses) are carried out in Australia
(see Country summary).
** Japan is at a very preliminary stage of the development of its strategy and only considers public sector
credentials for the moment.
*** In the case of Canada, the framework enables private sector issued credentials to be used in public
sector contexts and vice-versa. However, business models for private sector use of the framework still
needs to be addressed.
One observation is that no strategy expresses the need for a single or

global interoperable identity system. Each country develops its own strategy
and implementation policies, applying international standards. Some countries
participate in regional initiatives such as the EU STORK project for cross-
border technical interoperability.
In general, responding countries seem to consider the implementation of
the e-government dimension of their strategy as their priority.
This may be because they perceive that they have more control over
government processes than they do as a wider market player. They may also
consider that the development of IdM for e-government will be sufficient to
create a critical mass of users and services that will modify the status quo
for strong electronic authentication in the marketplace and impact on private
sector IdM practices. The leadership role of the government for public and
private sector IdM, when not explicitly acknowledged, is often implicit in
most responses.
All national strategies address all layers of public administration,

regardless of their level of autonomy. This aspect is often highlighted as a
challenge.
In developing their national IdM strategy, all countries recognise the
need to address the various layers of public administration in order for their
strategy to be effective. For example, in countries with a federal system of
government, the strategies cover the role of the federal government as well
as the state or provincial level. In many countries, local levels of the public
administration, such as municipalities, are also included in the scope of the
strategy.
The need to address all layers of public administration is often highlighted
as a challenge, for example in Canada, which follows a federated IdM
approach, and Denmark, which notes the complexity of involving all
participants including municipalities and their IT suppliers. In Italy, where
regions and municipalities enjoy a large degree of autonomy, the slow
adoption of a non-mandatory National Electronic Identity Card has led to
the development of a National Service Card which is electronically
compatible with the National Electronic Identity Card but lacks physical
security features required for offline identity verification. This card is being
deployed by regions and municipalities to enable access to regional and
local e-government services. The adoption of this alternative card (33% of
the population versus 3% for the national card) is such that it might be seen
as an obstacle to the further adoption of the national card.
In one case, the legal protection of the national identifier was
highlighted as an obstacle to a broad IdM strategy encompassing private
sector transactions.
The Netherlands excludes private sector use of digital credentials
created in the national IdM framework: the extension of the IdM framework
to the private sector is strictly limited because the use of the “Citizen
Service Number”, a key component of the IdM framework, is restricted by
law to the public sector. This highlights that the legal protection of the
national identifier can become an obstacle to a broader IdM strategy
encompassing private sector transactions, an issue which might be addressed
by translating the legal protection of the national identifier into a technical
protection, such as, for example, the solution adopted by Austria (see
country summary).
Benefits
National IdM strategies aim to benefit businesses, citizens and the
government. Strategies are expected to support innovation in the public and
private sectors and to foster usability. Cost reduction and productivity gains
generated by IdM for e-government are also often mentioned. Increased
identity assurance for all participants is expected to foster the development
and use of e-government and private sector services.
Benefits to businesses and governments are mostly economic: cost-
reduction, productivity and efficiency gains. For example, in many cases,
the pooling of authentication mechanisms or the availability of inter-
operability frameworks reduces the cost of developing online services for
smaller agencies and companies which are then able to keep their focus and
resources on their core business. Most IdM frameworks create conditions for
the provision of credentials that enable a high level of identity assurance.
The diffusion of these credentials enables the development of new electronic
services that would not be otherwise possible to offer (innovation). These
include higher risk services such as the creation of a private enterprise
online, including across borders, online car registration, and online crime
reporting (Portugal). Interestingly, the two countries whose vision is focused
on cybersecurity, Australia and the United States mention the reduction of
fraud as another expected benefit for the government, but this is consistent
with their overarching vision (the Netherlands also highlights the reduction
of fraud as a benefit).
Benefits to citizens include the use of new online services that facilitate
their relationship with the government and, more generally, enhanced
convenience and usability of e-government services, for example by
i) limiting the number of credentials users have to manage for their
interactions with the government (e.g. Netherlands, Portugal, New Zealand,
Sweden); ii) recognising a wide range of credentials through a federated
approach (e.g. Canada, United States); iii) deploying national electronic
credentials such as national identity cards or citizen cards (e.g. Austria,
Denmark, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg), in some instances to replace sets of
pre-existing credentials (e.g. Italy, Portugal, Spain); iv) implementing single
sign-on services across government web sites where citizens are only required
to authenticate once – generally on a government one-stop-shop portal or
gateway– to access multiple government services (see Table A1.2). Other
examples include the reduction of the requirements for citizens to provide
documents issued by other agencies in order to benefit from a service (e.g.
Slovenia). In most strategies, a digital signature created using a certificate
issued by an accredited authority12, has the same validity as a handwritten one,
enabling citizens to interact with public services electronically.
The enhancement of trust and security within the citizen to government

and to business relationship is often stated as one of the benefits to all
participants.
Main components
Strategies include a large variety of key components.
Table A1.3 provides an overview of the main components of National
IdM Strategies in responding countries.
Many countries provide or plan to provide single sign-on solutions to
access public sector services (see Table A1.2).
One common objective is to reduce the requirement for users to log-in
multiple times to access the various services provided by the same large-
scale organisation (e.g. the public administration when considered as a
single very large enterprise).
Table A1.3. Main components of national IdM strategies
Australia • Standards for Registration, Enrolment, Security for Proof of Identity

Documents, Integrity of Identity Data, Electronic Authentication, and
Biometric Interoperability
• National Document Verification Service (DVS)
• Single sign-on to e-government services
Austria • Universal* citizen card concept: framework for privacy-friendly credential
that can be issued by public and private sector bodies.
• Single sign-on to e-government services
Canada • Foundational elements to define key concepts (e.g. assurance model,
privacy code, trust model),
• A framework defining a high-level structure and architecture as well as
legal, privacy, security, identification trust and service experience
requirements,
• A service delivery component identifying pilot projects
• A component supporting standards and guidelines
Chile • Migration of the current national identity card to a universal* electronic
card
Denmark • Universal* PKI-based digital credentials for secure identification, digital
signature, secure email.
• Single sign-on to e-government services (possibly extending to the private
sector).
Germany • Migration of the mandatory paper-based identity card towards a universal*
electronic identity card
• Development of services for private use (secure email, proof of identity
system and document safe).
• Interoperable IdM infrastructure for e-government
Italy • Migration of the non-mandatory national paper based card to a voluntary
electronic card
• Development of an electronic National Service Card (deployed by regions
and municipalities)
• Centralisation of municipality maintained residence registers
Korea • Government PKI and promotion of private sector PKI
• i-PIN framework
Luxembourg • Certificate authority based on a Public Private Partnership with banks
• PKI certificates for public and private interactions
• One-stop-shop e-government portal
• Migration of paper-based mandatory national identity card to a universal
electronic card (future)
Netherlands • Credentials to be used only for citizen to government interactions
• Electronic identity card is under consideration
Table A1.3. Main components of national IdM strategies (cont’d)
New • Various identity/authentication guidelines and standards, i.e. Identity

Zealand Assurance Framework for e-government
• Logon Service (one login/password per person for all participating
government agencies) mechanism and Identity Verification Service for
e-government.
Portugal • Migration of the mandatory paper based identity card to a universal Citizen
Card
• Single sign-on identity provider for public and private online service
providers
• PKI certificates and services for public and private interactions
• One-stop-shop e-government portal
Slovenia • PKI for public and private sector transactions
• Single sign-on for public sector
Spain • Migration of the mandatory national identity card to a universal electronic
national identity card
• Promotion of public and private sector PKI (15 certificate authorities)
• Validation platform for public and private sector PKI
• National interoperability framework for the public administration
Sweden • An agreement with selected private sector companies (banks) to foster
PKI
Turkey • Centralisation of citizens registers
• E-government gateway
• Plan for the migration of the paper based national identity card to a
universal identity card.
United • A comprehensive identity ecosystem framework
States • An interoperable identity infrastructure aligned with the identity ecosystem
framework
* Universal, in this report, means that it can be used in public and private sector contexts.
The implementation of a single sign-on service for e-government services

sometimes occurs in parallel with the development of e-government portals or
gateways (e.g. Australia, Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands,
Portugal, Turkey)13. In Austria, the Government portal personalises the
presentation of the various services available to take account of the
individual’s situation (e.g. profession, marital status, region, etc.). It includes
an “electronic safe” for private documents, a reminder service and electronic
delivery services. Stored data is protected but can be released by the citizen
to specific applications to generate pre-filled forms. On the Danish Web
portal, individuals can access the data collected about them by multiple public
authorities, including tax services and the local municipalities, without
logging-in several times.
Two exceptions may be noted. Germany does not consider single sign-
on to e-government services for transparency reasons: personal data from
online authentications may not be automatically forwarded to third parties.
However tokens for individual single sign-on systems can be provided to the
user on the basis of online authentication. New Zealand developed a Logon
Service where individuals are provided with one set of login/password that
works for all participating government agencies, although they can also use
multiple logons for multiple services if they wish to. Single sign-on is not
currently provided as users have to sign-on to each service, but it could be
proposed in the future through a government portal.
Almost all national IdM strategies aim to reduce or limit the number of
digital credentials that individuals have to use across a large number of
services.
To simplify user experience and reduce costs for service providers,
strategies aim to address the multiplication of credentials end users must
manage to gain access to an increasing number of services online. Most
strategies create a framework to facilitate the management of digital identity
credentials or, more precisely, to promote the use of a limited number of
digital credentials across a large number of services. However, this common
high level objective is achieved through a variety of approaches across
responding countries.
To use a metaphor, most strategies can be seen as aiming to reduce
either or both the number of digital keys or credentials Internet users have to
manage and the number of digital keyholes or gateways they are facing
when they try to access multiple government services online.
Some countries develop innovative public identity services that can be
used by the private sector.
Nevertheless, some countries develop innovative public identity services
that can be used by the private sector to support economic and social
activities. Germany provides an interesting example: although the strategy is a
building block of the 2006 E-government 2.0 programme, it includes the
development of innovative government identity services for public and private
sector use such as long term document safe, registered email with possible use
of pseudonyms and “proof of identity attributes” services whereby users can
send proof of address and age by email. Portugal provides examples of
innovative private sector benefits enabled by its citizen card such as opening a
bank account online, signing private contracts and enabling authentication on
private Web sites or workers assiduity registration.
Most countries have established a digital signature legislative frame-
work and many promote the development of a PKI market.
For example Korea recommends the use of a digital certificate for e-

commerce transactions above a certain value. Spain provides an interesting
example of strategy addressing both e-government and the broader Internet
economy with a universal national identity card framework and the
stimulation of the PKI market. Although Spain has a dynamic PKI
marketplace with 15 certificate authorities delivering certificates that can be
used in both public and private sector contexts, the national card is used by
the private sector to develop innovative services. For example, a bank
modified its ATM machines to accept the national card and Cisco developed
Virtual Private Network technologies based on the national card.
Approaches
Countries follow a migratory approach to identity management rather
than a reengineering one. Governments aim to automate their existing
business processes to reduce cost, improve usability and offer new services.
At present, they do not aim to reengineer these business processes. IdM
strategies are therefore evolutionary, based on adapting and extending
existing identity practices, rather than revolutionary, involving the creation
of something completely new.
In most cases, governments develop digital identity management
strategies which extend existing offline identity management strategies to
the online world. They do not try to reengineer digital identity management
online as if nothing existed before or establish a completely new framework
for digital identity management distinct or separated from existing offline
traditions and processes. Most frameworks build upon the existing means
for identity verification offline and extend or adapt them to the online world.
They tend to minimize the creation of new processes that would imply new
habits for citizens. Thus National IdM Strategies generally follow the
principles of automation, migration and evolution of existing business
processes (see Box A1.1).
For example, countries which have launched an electronic national identity
card generally had a paper based national identity card for offline identity
validation. Their initiatives are often presented to citizens as the migration and
evolution of a paper card to an electronic card, thus enabling more services,
more convenience and reduction of government costs. Spain, for instance, is
migrating and extending its mandatory paper-based identity card to an electronic
identity card which, in addition to providing the traditional offline identity
verification, also enables electronic authentication online. Other similar
examples include Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal14.
Countries which do not have a tradition of national identity cards

develop alternative approaches to introducing digital credentials. Sweden,
for example, has a long tradition of offline identity verification carried out
using bank credentials. The digital identity management strategy simply
extends this policy online: banks selected through a public procurement
process provide PKI certificates to citizens and validation services to the
government. Denmark does not have a tradition of a national identity card,
its digital identity framework provides an infrastructure for standardized and
secure digital certificates that can be kept centrally in hardware, on a USB
token or on a smartcard. Austria also does not have a national identity card
tradition. It has developed a “citizen cards” framework defining minimal
requirements for digital identity tokens to provide a secure and privacy-
friendly signature device enabling qualified electronic signature as well as
sector-specific identification and representation (to carry out legal
transactions on another person’s behalf). Austrian Citizen Cards can be
developed and distributed by any public or private body such as the
government, banks (on credit cards) and even telecommunications operators
(SIM cards for mobile phones).
Where a national register or identifier (e.g. number) exists, it is generally
used by governments as part of the new digital identity management strategy
(e.g. in Austria, Denmark, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal,
Slovenia, Spain and Sweden). There is no example among respondents of a
country which has created a completely new population register or unique
identifier in order to support a digital identity management strategy. Countries
which do not have a pre-existing register or identifier find alternative ways to
support identity management at a national level. This is illustrated by
Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States which are developing
decentralised approaches that best suit their national features.
IdM approaches that are suited for the offline world cannot always be
directly applied online. The migration process often requires adjustments
and evolutionary changes. Sometimes, innovative components have to be
designed to address specific challenges raised by the digital world or to take
advantage of the digital context. For example, Austria and Italy had to
centralise and the Netherlands had to network their population registers,
which had all previously been kept by local municipalities, in order to
facilitate the citizen card, national card or their unique identifier framework.
In these countries, citizens traditionally registered at a local government
office and continue to do so. However the information collected is now
centralised enabling various electronic services to be offered by the central
and local government. Thus, these countries have not established a
completely new registration system to support e-government. Instead, pre-
existing registration processes have been adapted to enable these new

services (see below, registration policy).
A further example is Australia where a document verification service is
being implemented to enable agencies to perform real-time checks on the
validity of documents presented by clients as proof of identity. Government
agencies are also encouraged to follow an e-authentication framework that
promotes the re-use of existing processes and practices to improve security,
usability and cost efficiency. These approaches respect the decentralised
tradition of Australia’s style of government while enabling a more robust
identity management system as the main objective of the Australian
strategy.
Three observations can be made:
• Australia, Canada and the United States have the largest territory
and the lowest population density of all respondents. Also, all three
are examples of countries with a federal government system and
favour a decentralised approach to digital identity management.
• In general, citizen cards or service cards are adopted by countries
which do not have a tradition of a mandatory national identity card
but do have a tradition of a national population register or identifier.
• A migratory approach is likely to carry with it the challenges that
existed in the pre-existing environment. For example, cross-border
challenges that existed with offline identity management will not be
solved simply by migrating identity management online.
Box A1.1. The four stage journey of the migration of services online
The migration of services to an online environment, whether for electronic commerce, electronic
government or any other form of business processing (e.g. intra-enterprise processes), is generally
described as a four-stage journey:
1. Initially, organisations electronically publish information and forms that users can print, complete
and submit in paper format. At that stage, there is no need to modify identity management
approaches that follow the traditional paper-based method. The link between forms and users
continues to be established on the basis of a signature on a paper form.
2. In the next stage, organisations provide a Web interface where forms can be completed online and
submitted electronically. At this stage, some electronic registration method becomes necessary to
link the form to the person or organisation completing it. In complex organisations such as
governments or large firms, different electronic registration methods are often developed in parallel
in the various entities (silos) of the organisation, for example each ministry in a government or
each subsidiary in a multinational enterprise.
As the number of online services increases, the number of electronic registration systems multiply
and their complexity and cost increase. Eventually pressure starts to appear i) to streamline the
development and maintenance of parallel vertical identity frameworks which become a source of
unnecessary expenses and ii) to simplify access for end users who have to create and manage a
growing number of credentials and may get lost in the proliferation of interfaces to access online
services.
3. In the third stage, organisations decide to further automate their business processes. They identify
common identity management elements within each domain and try to rationalise and share them
to the extent possible. They adopt more comprehensive strategies for the management of
identities online. Portals start to appear as well as single sign-on technologies. Organisations try to
increase the number of applications users can access with a single credential.
4. In the final stage, organisations realise that innovative business processes can further reduce
costs, improve users’ experience and create opportunities to introduce new services with
consequences that extend beyond the simple rationalisation of existing processes. This business
process reengineering phase can be considered the final stage of the journey towards electronic
services.
As regards identity management, all respondents have reached, in some area or another, the third
stage of the evolution described above: the automation of pre-existing paper-based business
processes which were established a long time ago15. No respondent has mentioned their intention to
reengineer their business processes to achieve greater cost reductions (the above stage 4). It is likely
that the cost and complexity of business process reengineering on a scale as a broad as the public
administration are such that the automation of existing processes is seen as a necessary preliminary
stage. In addition, the need to maintain –during a transition period– traditional paper-based
infrastructures in parallel with the electronic ones prevents Governments from considering to
reengineer their business processes whilst migrating their services online. Business process
reengineering in the context of electronic government will probably only take place once the citizen
base has fully migrated online and electronic services reach out to the whole population.
National IdM strategies respect the national culture, style of government

and offline identity management tradition.
A deeper analysis of countries’ geographic, administrative, political and
historical specificities might find, for example, that countries with a
longstanding practice of administrative centralisation would naturally rely
on central population registers, countries with some historical experience of
government abuse of population registration may be reluctant to adopt
centralised schemes, countries with large territories probably provide more
autonomy to regions and cities to compensate for the difficulty of
communications with the central government, etc. (further discussion of
centralised vs. decentralised registration policies are provided below). A
striking example of the cultural nature of IdM practices is provided by
Korea where the generalised use of an identifier stems from the limited
number of last names in the population: only 274 last names are in use and
almost half of the population shares the three most common Korean ones
(Kim, Lee and Park). Unsurprisingly, the Korean identifier includes other
identity attributes such as gender, date and place of birth to reduce the
identity uncertainty that the first and last name alone might generate. A
similar example is provided by New Zealand where government agencies
designing online and offline identity authentication processes should take
into account the fact that a person may adopt a name through usage and
reputation (including, for example, adopting a spouse’s name on marriage),
and legitimately continue to use different names in different contexts. The
migration of identity management online has to accommodate the fact that
individuals may legitimately hold a range of documents that provide
evidence of their use of their different names.
All these factors, and many others, form a specific and complex national
equation that can help to explain why offline identity management policies
vary across countries. Most of the variables of these equations are also valid
for digital identity management and complemented by other technology-
related parameters such as broadband penetration, pace of adoption of
information technologies, etc.
Taking the example of countries which are successfully rolling out
electronic national identity cards over a short period of time (e.g. Portugal,
Spain), one could conclude that a fully federated approach to digital identity
management could take longer to implement and, consequently, may not be
an optimal policy. This view would, however, not take into account the
fundamental fact that most countries which have successfully rolled out an
electronic identity card over a short period of time are migrating their
existing paper-based card infrastructure and rely on their existing population
registers and management structures. The assessment of the cost and time
required to successfully deploy national electronic identity cards should take
into account the effort and time that has historically been necessary to
implement and operate the existing paper-based card infrastructure on which
the new electronic card deployment will rely16.
One may consider that a good strategic approach should recognise the
specificity of the country, extend to the online world the traditions, tools and
processes with which citizens are used to operate in the offline world, and
improve their efficiency in the online context. Where offline identity
management practices have never been rationalised or centralised
historically, greater complexity is likely to emerge in migration to the digital
world.
A related key conclusion is that there does not appear to be such a thing
as a generic approach to digital identity management that could be applied
regardless of the national context: identity management approaches are
culture specific and cannot be easily transposed or transported directly from
one country to another.
Policy: What policies support the strategy?
Developing and implementing a national digital identity management

strategy covering an entire country’s population is inherently complex and
requires time. The nature, scale and complexity of challenges such as
interoperability, security and privacy are related to the core objectives
supporting the strategy (e-government, cybersecurity, broader Internet
innovation). It is not realistic to target and address all core objectives and all
challenges in parallel and with the same degree of priority. The more
extensive the core objectives, the greater the number of challenges to
overcome. Most countries probably try to strike a balance between
objectives that match their broader national priorities and the challenges
they can manage in the short term. They recognise that there are limits to
what their policies can do to support their strategy: what is possible in the
short term is not necessarily what they would like to achieve in the long
term. Digital identity management at the national level is a journey.
The questionnaire included sections on interoperability, security,
privacy and usability policies. The analysis of countries’ responses helped
identify their registration policy as well as their policy for the adoption and
use of digital credentials as important aspects of their IdM approaches. The
type of registration policy appeared as a key differentiating factor in the
analysis of how national policies address each of these dimensions. This
point is developed below more specifically in relation to interoperability and
privacy.
Registration policy
National Identity Management strategies are based on either a
centralised or decentralised citizen registration policy.
A citizen registration policy provides the basis for the bond and legal
binding between the individuals and their electronic identity.
One can distinguish countries with a:
• Centralised registration policy generally based on a population
register and, often, on a unique identifier (e.g. number) assigned to
all citizens or residents,
• Decentralised registration policy, where each organisation is
autonomous with respect to its registration policy. Several
registration mechanisms coexist and interoperate within frameworks
established by federation agreements.
Citizen registration policy is influenced by national history. The
development of national IdM strategies has not led countries to reconsider
their pre-existing citizen registration policy for offline identity management.
The choice of the citizen registration policy is likely to stem from many
interrelated factors specific to each country including culture, style of
government and history. Some countries have a longstanding tradition of
maintaining a national population register (Chile, Denmark, Italy, Portugal
and Spain) and identity number (Korea). As noted above, in other countries,
population registers maintained at the local level were centralised (Austria,
Germany) or networked (Netherlands) to be used for online identity
management. In a third group of countries, there is no central population
register and the citizen registration policy is based on a federated or
decentralised approach. For example, each organisation is autonomous
regarding its registration mechanism and adheres to a federation agreement
that provides a trust model enabling interoperability of credentials across
domains and single sign-on (Canada).
Table A1.4. Registration policies
Centralised Austria, Chile, Denmark, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands,

Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey
Decentralised Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States
The development of IdM Strategies has not led responding countries to

change their citizen registration policy. Countries where the various layers
of public administration are the most autonomous tend to adopt
decentralised registration policies co-ordinated within federal agreements.
Countries where local layers of public administration are less autonomous
tend to adopt a more centralised registration policy. While no responding
country has switched from one registration policy to another, some countries
have modified some important characteristics of their citizen registration
policy. For example, as noted above, population registers previously
maintained at local level have been centralised (Austria, Italy) or networked
(Netherlands). Overall, these elements confirm that current IdM strategies
are more about automating and migrating existing processes rather than
reengineering them, as highlighted above.
One conclusion might be that no citizen registration policy is better than
another in the abstract because they have all been implemented within a
specific historic, socio-cultural and political context. The registration policy
of a country is deeply related to the country’s style of government as it
reflects the degree of autonomy within which each layer of the public
administration can operate. It also reflects the country’s history and culture,
where for example registries of citizens might have appeared to support key
public authority functions such as tax collection. And it can also be sensitive
in countries where population registers have been historically used for
illegitimate purposes by governments in the past or where there is a fear that
such a situation could arise. In this regard, registration policies essentially
reflect how countries implement key aspects of their democracy.
Policy for adoption and use of credentials

Adoption of the citizen credentials can be either voluntary or mandatory.
Countries which have a tradition of mandatory offline credentials generally
migrate that policy online. In other countries, the adoption of the digital
credentials is voluntary. Governments have adopted various means, from
persuasion to coercion, to encourage or mandate the use of digital citizen
credentials by individuals and service providers.
Characteristics such as the voluntary or mandatory nature of the paper-
based card are generally also migrated to the electronic card. Where paper-
based identity cards are mandatory, electronic ones are often also
mandatory, facilitating penetration in the short or medium term. A contrario,
where the national electronic card is voluntary, its adoption can be slow (e.g.
Italy): citizens do not automatically perceive the benefits of the electronic
features of the card for themselves.
Governments use a wide range of means to increase usage by individuals

and service providers, from encouragement to obligation. For example,
Spanish citizens get entitled to tax refunds and receive them faster when
they use the online tax services; Slovenia requires the use of electronic
means to submit tax returns; in Korea, digital certificates are mandated by
law for activities such as banking, stock trading and electronic commerce
transactions above USD 260; the Danish government aims to require the use
of the government provided digital credentials for e-banking and for public
sector services.
As regards use by service providers, the Austrian framework encourages
public and private sector organisations to provide Citizen Cards to
individuals and provides open source modules to online service providers to
facilitate the integration of the card to their online applications. Similarly,
Portugal distributes a development kit to encourage the development of
card-based applications. Adoption by private sector online service providers
can also be encouraged by the creation of consultation forums such as the
Digital Identity Management Forum in Korea. In the Netherlands, public
sector agencies are mandated by law to use the DigID to provide online
services.
Interoperability policy
All respondents, regardless of their registration policy, recognise the role
of standards for technical interoperability and market competition and they
encourage the use of widely recognised ones. However, IdM registration
policy influences the level of interoperability that national policies can
prescribe.
For example, in a country with a decentralised IdM citizen registration
policy such as Canada, interoperability is promoted in the context of federa-
tion agreements. The common policy objectives are described independently
of the possible technical solutions to achieve them. Organisations partici-
pating in a federation agreement have the maximum flexibility regarding
how to technically achieve the objectives. In contrast, countries following a
centralised citizen registration policy are likely to adopt a more prescriptive
approach regarding policy and technical choices. For example, the Austrian
government develops and provides open source software modules to
simplify the development of “Citizen Card” compatible online services. In
all cases, however, the role of regional and international standards for
technical interoperability is widely recognised.
Where a specific technical solution is promoted by the government, such
as in Korea with the i-PIN or Turkey with the national card, it is generally
adopted as a national technical standard.
Countries which promote the use of PKI generally support PKI inter-
operability through the establishment of a legal framework with a
supervision mechanism and the recognition of standards (e.g. Korea).
Some countries develop technical infrastructures for interoperability that
include IdM features.
This is, for example, the case with the German Secure Access to
Federate E-Justice/E-government (SAFE) initiative, a technical framework
for interoperable and safe usage of digital identities across administrative
borders (“trust domains”). In Turkey, public bodies can access Identity
Information Sharing System (KPS) through a virtual private network.
Technical infrastructures to promote interoperability in both the public
and private sectors can also be developed by the government, such as with
the Spanish @firma validation platform operated by the Ministry of
Territorial Policy and Public Administration. This platform also aims to
provide validation services across borders, mainly through the EU STORK
project.
Most responses focused on technical interoperability. Few elements
were provided on the scope and scale of changes that might be necessary at
the legal or business process levels to achieve true interoperability across
diverse identity systems, beyond the technical and across the public and
private sectors.
At least two hypotheses might explain the lack of information regarding
aspects of legal or business process interoperability:
• A bias in the survey exercise for example in the formulation of the
questions; and/or
• A confirmation that since governments are essentially automating
existing government business processes, few additional legal and
business process mechanisms are required to support inter-
operability.
Some respondents address interoperability issues within the public
sector through a national e-authentication framework or national inter-
operability framework.
For example, Spain developed a national interoperability framework to
foster interoperability within the public sector. In Australia, the 2008
National e-Authentication Framework promotes the use of secure and
interoperable electronic credentials in citizen- and business-to-government
transactions and aims to assist agencies, jurisdictions and sectors in
authenticating the identity of the other party to a desired level of assurance
or confidence. The framework does not mandate any particular approach but
encourages interoperable e-authentication mechanisms so that individuals
can expect similar authentication processes for transactions with similar
assurance levels across all three tiers of government within Australia. To
reduce cost and increase interoperability, federal agencies are encouraged to
use the authentication infrastructure of designated lead agencies for
government-to-government, business-to-government, or “people-to-govern-
ment” authentication. New Zealand’s e-government interoperability framework
addresses interoperability of IdM systems.
Security policy
Although some respondents provided information on technical security
measures for IdM, few details were provided regarding higher level security
policy specific to IdM. One hypothesis is that IdM security stems from
broader government information security policy and is not specifically
addressed by governments at a policy level. This is, for example, the case in
Australia where IdM security is addressed through the broader 2009
Australian Government Cyber Security Strategy, various legislative and
regulatory security requirements, government standards and security manuals.
Chile is similar in this regard.
An interesting observation is that the central and critical nature of the
IdM function within the broader e-government infrastructure is not
mentioned by respondents as requiring specific policy attention.
Many countries have a policy to promote the use of PKI.
Two groups of countries support PKI: countries which develop citizen
electronic card frameworks (Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain) and
countries which develop PKI-based electronic credentials frameworks that
are not necessarily card-based (Denmark, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands,
Slovenia, Spain Sweden, Turkey). Most countries have adopted a legal
framework to support PKI which includes supervision of certificate service
providers.
Most countries have a policy to promote the use of digital certificates
both for e-authentication and e-signature. Some also develop or promote
related services such as time stamping (e.g. Portugal).
Few countries, besides Korea (which highlights this as a challenge) and
Portugal, provide details on certificates’ suspension and revocation.
Privacy policy
All countries mention the application of existing legal privacy protection
framework as their main policy tool to protect privacy.
This includes for example the security of personal data, including
sensitive data. Exceptions include Chile, where amendments to the privacy
legislations are expected to address this issue and Turkey, where privacy is
not specifically addressed.
Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) are sometimes mentioned to be
applied to government IdM systems (e.g. Australia, Canada, Luxembourg,
New Zealand, and the United States). Korea is considering the modification
of its Privacy Act to include an obligation for public agencies to perform
PIA. The Dutch government and the Dutch privacy authority are also
considering PIAs.
The role of the Data Protection Agency (DPA) as a provider of IdM
guidance is sometimes highlighted, such as in Luxembourg, Portugal and
Australia where the Privacy Commissioner issued privacy guidance on PKI.
Several countries mention the importance of data minimisation in
relation to IdM. Government agencies in Canada are encouraged to comply
with a Directive which addresses the proportionality of the personal
information collected and requires the selection of “an appropriate set of
identity data (such as personal attributes or identifiers) to sufficiently
distinguish a unique identity to meet program needs, which is proportionate
to identified risks and flexible enough to allow for alternative methods of
identification, when appropriate”.
Most countries do not consider the use of pseudonyms in their strategy.
Exceptions include Australia, in specific cases such as to protect the
identity of victims of violence, Denmark which is considering it for the
future, and Germany. The Netherlands plans to introduce the use of pseudo-
nyms in its future IdM framework for business.
Privacy challenges and responses are, to a large extent, related to IdM
registration policies.
Central registration policies raise issues related to the use of a central
population register, unique identifiers and, where relevant, national card
frameworks. Challenges include the protection of the number itself, and
mechanisms to prevent its use to match individuals across multiple
organisations where there is no legal basis to do so (unlinkability), inappro-
priate access to the central register database and to data stored on the card.
Privacy protection raises different challenges in countries that have

adopted a decentralised registration policy. Since each organisation or
jurisdiction has a high degree of autonomy with respect to the privacy
protection measures it establishes to apply privacy laws, the level of privacy
provided to individuals, when interoperability is implemented, depends on
the trust agreements between the various participants in the federation. Just
as for interoperability, a single technical privacy protection solution cannot
be imposed on all participants in a decentralised policy framework. Again,
participants are more likely to adhere to a set of privacy protection
objectives and high-level measures than to detailed policy measures or
technical mechanisms.
Some countries implement strong privacy protection at the technical
level (“privacy by design” IdM approach).
Again, technical approaches to privacy protection vary according to the
registration policy:
• Countries with a centralised registration policy are more likely to
require specific measures to protect the national identifier, access to
the population register, and the use of the national or citizen card
when they have one. Technical privacy protection measures can be
seen as an efficient way to address legal privacy issues and are also
important to enhance trust in and acceptance of the IdM framework.
In Austria and Germany, privacy protection is seen as a key feature
of the card framework and the technical solutions that have been
implemented to provide unlinkability based on the unique identifier
(Austria) or to limit the transfer of data (Germany)17 are particularly
innovative. In Italy, the data stored in the central register is
encrypted with the public key of the issuing municipality. In Korea,
the whole i-PIN framework has been developed in part to limit the
generalised use of the Resident Registration Number as the default
identifier online which was leading to all sorts of abuse. An
interesting and simple technical privacy measure is the obligation by
the i-PIN agency to send an email to the individual each time his/her
i-PIN number is used to identify him/her. In Portugal and Spain,
biometric features are carried out using “match on card” technology
which prevents the use of a central biometric database while
protecting access to the data stored on card and enabling individuals
to express consent in a secure manner for certain types of operations
to be executed in the card (change of the PIN, renewal of the
certificates). In Portugal, several sectoral identification numbers are
available on the card to comply with the legal protection of the
national identifier.
• In countries with a decentralised registration policy, privacy within

a single decentralised local domain follows the same pattern as the
centralised policy. On the one hand, decentralisation can be seen as
inherently more privacy protective as there is no single point of
privacy failure. But on the other hand, difficulties seem to arise
when the identity data has to be transferred or shared with another
domain in order to be used. Embedding privacy policy into
technology in a manner that can be easily transferred or shared with
another trusted domain (i.e. federated or otherwise linked) with,
perhaps, different privacy policies, goes beyond simply being a
technical challenge. One option, followed by Canada is to clearly
state the privacy objective and leave the freedom to use any
appropriate technical solution, thus side-stepping the technical
difficulties and relying on audit of the objectives and other privacy
tools to create an interoperable system. Another option, followed by
New Zealand, is to embed strong privacy protections in solutions
provided by the government to agencies.
When biometrics are included in digital credentials, specific privacy
safeguards are implemented.
For example, the introduction of biometrics in the German identity card
to enable its use as a biometric passport will include technical measures to
restrict the use of biometrics to specific cases such as border control and
prevent their use, for example, for e-authentication. The Portuguese and
Spanish national cards both include biometrics but their use is limited by
“match on card” technology.
Some countries consider data breach notification as a possible means to
increase privacy and security awareness.
In addition to the United States, this is for example the case in Australia,
Canada and Korea which are considering the introduction of data breach
notification requirements.
User empowerment policy

Countries migrating their national paper-based identity card to an
electronic card are generally aware of the user empowerment challenge.
Although public acceptance for the electronic card is often relatively high
due to the pre-existing paper-based card, citizens do not necessarily
understand the potential benefits (and risks) related to electronic features of
the card, such as digital signature and electronic authentication.
User awareness campaigns are often included in the broader cyber

security awareness programmes (e.g. Australia, Canada, Denmark and
Luxembourg). Some countries develop specific awareness raising campaigns,
for example to support the adoption of citizen or national cards (e.g. Austria,
Portugal, Spain) or identifiers (Korea). Most countries mention the registra-
tion or acceptation of the terms and conditions as a particularly suited
moment to convey information about benefits and risks as well as privacy.
Usability is sometimes promoted through innovative applications such
as the Korean Digital Identity Wallet system which enables users to log in to
Web sites without filling in ID and password information. Austria considers
usability and acceptance as key issues. The Austrian Citizen Card and the
Danish NemID credentials are based on technologies that do not require
users to install software on their computer, a important point for individuals
who do not use their card often.
The Netherlands and Portugal have created a national helpdesk for
identity fraud.
Notes
1. In the context of this paper, the term “universal” means across the public and
private sectors rather than across countries.
2. See www.oecd.org/dataoecd/55/48/43091476.pdf.
3. In this report, IdM is the abbreviated form of digital identity management. Non
digital identity management is explicitly referred to as “offline identity
management”.
4. In addition, the Mexican government has provided some information. See
Appendix I.
5. Country responses have been posted on the WPISP Delegates’ Workspace.
6. The work on “eID Interoperability for pan-European e-government services
(PEGS)” carried out by the European “Interoperable Delivery of European
eGovernment Services to public Administrations, Business and Citizens”
(IDABC) programme was particularly useful to complement information provided
by European countries.
7. Several European countries mentioned the EU STORK project as a key initiative
in this area.
8. In Japan, the Government has just begun to explore the possible development of
an IT strategy including the establishment of an identity and of a numbering
system to support electronic government.
9. There is a possibility that this consideration results from a bias in the way the
questionnaire was circulated within the governments. This may also be a
consequence of the fact that most countries follow a migration strategy where the
ministry of interior keeps for the electronic national identity card the responsibility
that it had for the paper-based national identity card and where responsibility and
leadership for the electronic aspects are in the hands of the ministry whose
objectives are served by the electronic features (e.g. e-government).
10. For more details, see the country summary for Korea in Annex 1. The Korean
strategy also includes the promotion of the use of PKI with a public sector
infrastructure and measures to encourage the private sector PKI market.
11. Denmark plans to extend its single sign-on solution to private sector services in
the future, and at least to semi-public organisations (Railways) and general
practitioners in 2010.
12. Often called “qualified digital signature” or “secure electronic signatures”.
13. Respectively myhelp.gv.at and www.borger.dk.
14. An electronic identity card is also under consideration in The Netherlands.
15. It might however be possible that other government agencies than those involved
in digital identity management are actually undertaking planning for or
implementing significant business transformation that is reliant on the identity
management strategy. This survey has not explored this dimension.
16. Such an assessment, or the methodology for such an assessment, would extend far
beyond the scope of this study.
17. See country summary.
References
This section lists references cited by responding countries and other

resources used by the Secretariat to prepare the report in addition to
countries’ responses to the OECD questionnaire.
• OECD (2007), “OECD Recommendation of the Council on
Electronic Authentication and Guidance for Electronic
Authentication”,
www.oecd.org/document/7/0,3343,en_2649_34255_38909639_1_1_
1_1,00.html
European Union
• “eID Interoperability for PEGS”, IDABC -
http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/6484
• “Study on eID Interoperability for PEGS: Update of Country
Profiles. Analysis & assessment report”, IDABC, October 2009, -
http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/servlets/Doc?id=32521
• “National e-ID card schemes: A European overview”, Siddhartha
Arora, information security technical report, Volume 13, Issue 2,
May 2008, Pages 46-53.
• STORK programme - www.eid-stork.eu
Australia
• National Identity Security Strategy (NISS),

www.ag.gov.au/identitysecurity
• Vanguard Secure e-Authentication Services,
http://vanguard.business.gov.au
• Standard Business Reporting Program (SBR), www.sbr.gov.au
• Australian Government Online Service Point (AGOSP),
www.finance.gov.au/e-government/service-improvement-and-
delivery/agosp.html
• Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s Guidance on PKI,

www.privacy.gov.au/materials/types/download/8809/6609
• DVS Privacy Impact Assessments,
www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/page/crimeprevention_identitysec
urity
• Australian National E-Authentication Framework,
www.finance.gov.au/e-government/security-and-
authentication/authentication-framework.html
• Australian Government Cyber Security Strategy,
www.ag.gov.au/cybersecurity.
• Gatekeeper Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Framework,
www.finance.gov.au/e-government/security-and-
authentication/gatekeeper/
Austria
• “Austrian Country Profile - eID Interoperability for PEGS: Update

of Country Profiles Study”, IDABC, July 2009 -
• “Giving an Interoperable Solution for Incorporating Foerign e-IDs
in Austrian e-government”, IDABC Conference 2005, 18 February
2005, Thomas Rössler, A-SIT -
• “The Austrian Citizen Card - Concept and Cross-Border Approach”,
Herbert Leitold, A-SIT, London 20 April, 2006 - https://online.tu-
graz.ac.at/tug_online/voe_main2.getvolltext?pDocumentNr=43021
• “Best Practice Catalogue - eGovernment in Austria”, Federal
Chancellery, 7/2008
www.digitales.oesterreich.gv.at/DocView.axd?CobId=33428
• Citizen Card Web Site - www.buergerkarte.at/en
• e-government portal - http://help.gv.at and MyHelp.gv.at
• Legal framework of eGovernment in Austria -
www.digitales.oesterreich.gv.at/site/6514/default.aspx
• “Decree of the Federal Chancellor laying down conditions for
equivalence under Section 6(5) of the E-government Act
(E-government Equivalence Decree)”
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tris/pisa/app/search/index.cfm?fuseac
tion=pisa_notif_overview&iYear=2009&inum=624&lang=EN&sN
Lang=EN
• “Open source platform des Digitalen Österreich” -

http://egovlabs.gv.at (in German)
• Centrum für sichere Informationstechnologie - Secure Information
Technology Center
www.a-sit.at/de/allgemein/asit_en.php (in German)
• Service center for citizens -
www.digitales.oesterreich.gv.at/site/6469/default.aspx (in German)
Canada
• Pan Canadian Strategy for Identity Management and Authentication
- www.cio.gov.bc.ca/idm/idmatf/default.asp
• Access Key - https://cledacces-accesskey.gc.ca/a/eng/mc/
• Provinces single sign-on interfaces:
− British Columbia BCeID- https://www.bceid.ca/
− Ontario One-key Service -
https://www.iaa.gov.on.ca/iaalogin/IAALogin.jsp
− Québec ClicSÉQUR
www.rrq.gouv.qc.ca/en/services/services_en_ligne/utilisation_s
ecurite_services/identification/Pages/clicsequr.aspx
• Canadian Laws and Government policies, directives and standards:
− Policy on Government Security- www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-
eng.aspx?id=16578&section=text
− Directive on Identity Management- www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-
− Federal Privacy Act- http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/P-
21/index.html?noCookie
− Directive on Social Insurance Number
www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-
eng.aspx?id=13342&section=text#cha5
− Operational Security Standard www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-
eng.aspx?id=12328
− Policy of Privacy Protection - www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-
− Policy on Management of Information Technology

www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=12755
− Management Accountability Framework- Treasury Board
Secretariat - www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/maf-crg/index-eng.asp
− Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
(PIPEDA)
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/P-8.6/index.html
− C-29 Safeguarding Canadians’ Personal Information Act
www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=4
547739
− Privacy Impact Assessment Policy - www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-
− Guidelines for Privacy Breaches - www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/atip-
aiprp/in-ai/in-ai2007/breach-atteint-eng.asp
Denmark
• “Danish Country Profile - eID Interoperability for PEGS: Update of
Country Profiles Study”, IDABC, August 2009-
• “Digital Signature”, National IT and Telecom Agency -
http://en.itst.dk/it-security/digital-signature
• “eID/Authentication/Digital Signatures in Denmark”, 8 July 2008,
Nikolas Triantafyllidis / Charlotte Jacoby, Ministeriet for Videnskab
Teknologi og Udvikling
www.open-
standaarden.nl/fileadmin/os/presentaties/Kop08_pres_Triantafyllidi
sJacoby.pdf
• “PKI for e-Gov. Experiences from Denmark”, Allan Fisher-Madsen,
Devoteam Consulting
www.arpt.dz/Docs/3Actualite/Communication/8-
9_12_2009/Communications/Session2/S2P1eng.pdf
• “eID and Authentication. Presentation for Forum Standaardisatie”,
Mikkel Hippe Brun, Center for Service Oriented Infrastructure,
Danish National IT and Telecom Agency, Copenhagen, 8 July 2008
- www.open-
standaarden.nl/fileadmin/os/presentaties/Kop08_pres_HippeBrun.pdf
• E-government portal - http://borker.dk
• EasyLog-In, ePractice.eu - www.epractice.eu/en/cases/easylogin

• EDAG3 - eDay 3
http://modernisering.dk/da/projektside/andre_projekter/edag3/ (in
English) and www.itst.dk/it-sikkerhed/digital-signatur (in Danish).
• Danish Strategy for Single Sign-on for Public Web Sites-
www.modernisering.dk/da/projekter/brugerstyring/ (in Danish)
• Recommendations for guidelines for cross governmental IdM –
roadmap and concept
http://modernisering.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/Projekter
/Brugerstyring/Retningslinjer_tvaeroffentlig_brugerstyring_1.0.pdf
(in Danish)
• OCES Certifikatpolitikker -
https://www.signatursekretariatet.dk/certifikatpolitikker.html (in
Danish)
• Netsafe Now! Campaigns - http://en.itst.dk/it-security/netsafe-now-
campaigns
• NemLog-In and NemID disclaimers - https://login.sikker-
adgang.dk/fobslogin/visvilkaar.do (in Danish)
• Danish Data Protection Agency’s guidelines to be used if data is
involuntarily published on the Internet -
www.datatilsynet.dk/erhverv/internettet/utilsigtet-offentliggoerelse/
(in Danish)
Germany
• “eID Interoperability for PEGS: Update of Country Profile study:
German country profile”, July 2009 -
• “Abstract of the Core Concepts of S.A.F.E.: Standards for Federated
Identity Management”,
www.deutschland-
online.de/DOL_Internet/binarywriterservlet?imgUid=d8710643-
fa8a-9b11-d88e-f1ac0c2f214a&uBasVariant=22222222-2222-
2222-2222-222222222222
Italy
Italy country profile”, July 2009 -
• “Rapporto eGov Italia 2010”, December 2010, Minister for Public

Administration and Innovation,
www.innovazionepa.gov.it/comunicazione/notizie/2010/dicembre/20
122010-brunetta-rapporto-e-gov2010.aspx
Japan
• The Realization of a Citizens-Oriented e-government of the New

Information and Telecommunications Technology Strategies,
Cabinet Decision of 11 May, 2010, www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/it2/
(in Japanese)
• Promotion of the Utilization of Information and
Telecommunications Technology in the New Growth Strategy - the
Scenario for Restoring (a Vital Japan). Cabinet Decision of 18 June
2010,
www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/it2/denshigyousei/dai1/gijisidai.html (in
Japanese).
Korea
• Korea National PKI Status and Directions for Market Promotion,

March 2009, JinSoo Lim, Korea Certification Authority Central,
KISA
www.itu.int/ITU-D/finance/work-cost-tariffs/events/tariff-
seminars/vietnam09-tas/pdf/Doc7_Lim_PKI_kisa_korea.pdf
• “The PKI Status of Korea and Cases of PKI Construction in Global
Area”, 8 November 2007, Korean Information Certificate Authority
Inc.
www.apkic.org/WebSite/PKI2007/UpFile/File28.ppt
• “Understanding Korea’s Identity Verification System”, Byeong Gi
Lee, Commissioner, Korea Communications Commission,
December 2009,
http://121.254.145.213/gisa_down.php?pfile=%2Fdata1%2Fftp%2
Fgisa_download%2F20091206_%C2%FC%B0%ED%C0%DA%B7
%E1_Identity+Verification+System+2009.12.+BGL.doc
Luxembourg
Luxembourg country profile”, July 2009 -
• LuxTrust web site. https://www.luxtrust.lu.
Netherlands
• “The Netherlands Country Profile - eID Interoperability for PEGS:
Update of Country Profiles “, IDABC, July 2009 -
http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/servlets/Doc?id=32286.
• “Presentation of DigiD” - www.digid.nl/english
• “DigiD”, presentation by Gerrit Jan van ‘t Eind from ICTU at the
19th WPISP meeting on 4 October 2005
• “List of public sector services using DigiD” -
www.digid.nl/burger/over-digid/wie-doen-mee/
• “The personal records database: for the authorities and for you. The
Municipal Personal Records Database”, Ministry of the Interior and
Kingdom Relations
www.bprbzk.nl/dsresource?objectid=19176&type=org
• “Bergerservicenummer - Frequently Asked Questions” -
www.burgerservicenummer.nl/veelgestelde_vragen/english_faq
• “eRecognition for Companies”
www.eoverheidvoorbedrijven.nl/afsprakenstelseleherkenning/englis
h/english.html
New Zealand
• Identity Assurance Framework -

www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Resource-material-
Publications-Identity-Assurance-Framework
• E-government Interoperability framework -
www.e.govt.nz/standards/e-gif-3.3
• Igovt Web site: www.i.govt.nz.
• Evidence of Identity Standard - www.dia.govt.nz/Resource-material-
Evidence-of-Identity-Standard-Index
• Government Communications Security Bureau, NZ ICT Security
Manual, February 2008 - www.gcsb.govt.nz/newsroom/nzsits/nzsit-
402-feb08.pdf.
• Cross-Government Biometrics Group, Guiding Principles for the
Use of Biometric Technologies for Government Agencies, April
2009. www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Resource-material-
Guiding-Principles-for-the-Use-of-Biometric-Technologies-Index
• Office of the Privacy Commissioner Key Steps for Agencies in

Responding to Privacy Breaches and Privacy Breach Checklist,
Wellington, February 2008. www.privacy.org.nz/privacy-breach-
guidelines-2
Portugal
• “eID Interoperability for PEGS: Update of Country Profiles study.

Portuguese country profile. July 2009”, IDABC -
• “The Portuguese Citizen Card”, Gonçalo Caseiro, presentation at the
16 Porvoo Group meeting, March 2010
www.vaestorekisterikeskus.fi/vrk/fineid/files.nsf/files/9875BE23F60
FBEB2C2257700001C21FF/$file/Portuguese_Citizen_Card.pdf
• Cross-border digital signature in Portugal and Estonia (video) -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hNg5i4i3oU
• “Portuguese Citizen Card”, Maria Manuel Leitão Marques, 2007,
www.mj.gov.pt/sections/informacao-e-eventos/presidencia-
portuguesa/ficheiros9831/maria-leitao-
marques/downloadFile/file/e-IDCard_ejustice_final_-
_maria_manuel.pdf?nocache=1191117229.93
• Decree-Law 116-A/2006, Establishing the State’s Electronic
Certification System - Public Key Infrastructure and appointing the
National Safety Authority as the national accreditation authority
www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=981438
• “One stop shop. Easier, faster and cheaper. The Portuguese
Experience”, Luis Goes Pinheiro, 11 March 2010. -
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/55/62/44796252.pdf
Slovenia
Slovenian country profile. July 2009”, IDABC-
http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/servlets/Doc?id= 32292
Spain
Spanish country profile. July 2009”, IDABC -
• DNI Electronico Web Site - www.dnielectronico.es
• “A new e-ID card and online authentication in Spain”, Alexander

Heichlinger and Patricia Gallego, Identity in the Information
Society, Volume 3, Number 1, p.43-64
www.springerlink.com/content/317530p4l1w00453/
• “@firma – National Validation Authority for eID and eSignature
Serv”, 2010
www.epractice.eu/en/cases/afirmaawards
Sweden
Sweden country profile. July 2009”, IDABC -
• “Electronic Identity Management in Sweden: Governance of a
Market Approach”, Åke Grönlund, in « Identity in the Information
Society », vol. 1/ 2008, vol. 3/2010, ISSN 1876-0678
www.springerlink.com/content/m87277n29126411u/fulltext.pdf
• “This is BankID”, www.bankid.com/en/What-is-BankID/
• “BankID in Sweden. A National Identity and Security
Infrastructure”. Porvoo Meeting, 10 March 2008
www.vaestorekisterikeskus.fi/vrk/fineid/files.nsf/files/205328912CB6
4B84C22574420041C356/$file/27_update_sweden.pdf
Turkey
Turkey country profile. July 2009”, IDABC -
http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/servlets/Doc?id= 32294
• “The Central Civil Registration System (MERNIS)”, 17 February
2009
www.nvi.gov.tr/English/Mernis_EN,Mernis_En.html
• “The Identity Information Sharing System”, 12 February 2009
www.nvi.gov.tr/English/KPS_EN,KPS_EN.html
• “Information Society Strategy 2006-2010”. State Planning
Organisation. July 2006.
www.bilgitoplumu.gov.tr/Documents/5/Documents/060700_Informa
tionSocietyStrategy.pdf
• “Communiqué on Processes and Technical Criteria Regarding
Electronic Signatures”, Official Gazette ref 25692, 6 Janvier 2005.
www.tk.gov.tr/eng/pdf/Communique_on_Electronic_Signature.pdf
United States
• “Cyberspace Policy Review - Assuring a Trusted and Resilient
Information and Communications Infrastructure”, 2009
www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Cyberspace_Policy_Review
_final.pdf
• “National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace. Creating
Options for Enhanced Online Security and Privacy”, Draft, 25 June
2010 - www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/ns_tic.pdf
• “Identity Management Task Force Report 2008”, National Science
and Technology Council (NSTC) -
www.biometrics.gov/Documents/IdMReport_22SEP08_Final.pdf
• “Report to the President on Identity Management Strategy”,
National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee
(NSTAC), 2009
www.ncs.gov/nstac/reports/2009/NSTAC%20IDTF%20Report.pdf
• “Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM),
Roadmap and implementation Guidance”, CIO Council, version 1.0,
10 November 2009
www.idmanagement.gov/documents/FICAM_Roadmap_Implementa
tion_Guidance.pdf
• Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) -
http://csrc.nist.gov/drivers/documents/FISMA-final.pdf
• NIST Standards
− “Electronic Authentication Guideline”, NIST SP-800 63, April
2006
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-63/SP800-
63V1_0_2.pdf
− “Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information
Systems”, NIST 800-53, Revision 2
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-53-Rev2/sp800-
53-rev2-final.pdf
− “Guide for the Security Certification and Accreditation of
Federal Information Systems”, NIST SP 800-37
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-37/SP800-37-
final.pdf
Other
• Kantara Initiative - http://kantarainitiative.org/
Appendix I
Country summaries
This appendix includes summaries of countries’ responses to the

Questionnaire on National Strategies and Policies for IdM in OECD
countries circulated in November 20091. It also includes information from
additional research made by the Secretariat.
Australia
The Australian National Identity Security Strategy sets standards for

identity security in areas such as enrolment, document security and
electronic authentication, and it establishes a real-time Document Verifica-
tion Service (DVS) whereby agencies across jurisdictions can check the
validity of documents presented by clients as proof of identity documents in
real-time. The Australian Strategy is based on a decentralised registration
policy where each agency is responsible for managing its own identity
system. Several components of the strategy have been developed (e.g.
guidance for identity data integrity) or implemented but not yet fully rolled
out throughout all government agencies. To support interoperability,
agencies are encouraged to follow a National e-Authentication Framework.
The Australian Government has also agreed to a lead agency model for the
provision of authentication services to government agencies. Single sign-on
to e-government services is also being developed. Security and privacy are
addressed through the Australian Government’s Cyber Security Strategy and
via existing legislation such as Australia’s privacy legislation. In lack of a
national identifier, the development of an alternative registration mechanism
is considered as a key challenge.
National strategy for IdM

In 2007, Australia initiated a comprehensive whole-of-government
cross-jurisdictional effort to develop and implement a National Identity
Security Strategy. The Strategy is based on the recognition that false, stolen
and multiple identities can underpin terrorist and criminal activity or under-
mine border and citizenship controls. The Strategy aims to develop standards
for registration and enrolment, security for proof of identity documents,
integrity of identity data, electronic authentication and biometric inter-
operability.
A key component of the Strategy is the development and
implementation of a national Document Verification Service (DVS), a
secure electronic, online system that can be used to check the validity of
documents presented by clients as proof of identity documents in real-time.
The DVS enables government agencies to check if a document has been
issued by the issuing agency, if the details recorded on the document
correspond to those held in the issuing agencies register, if the document is
still valid (i.e. has not been cancelled or superseded), and if it has not been
lost or stolen. The DVS may provide a useful tool to facilitate online
enrolment.
The Strategy benefits from high-level leadership. It was adopted by the
Council of Australian Governments, an entity chaired by the Prime Minister
which comprises State Premiers, Territory Chief Ministers and the President
of the Australian Local Government Association and which initiates, develops
and monitors the implementation of policy reforms that are of national
significance and require co-operative action by Australian governments.
The Australian strategy is based on a decentralised registration policy:
there is no unique national identifier for Australian citizens, identity
credentials are issued for specific purposes by each agency. Agencies are
encouraged to follow a National e-Authentication Framework. The
Australian Government has also agreed to a lead agency model for the
provision of authentication services.2 The current approach focuses on face-
to-face enrolment with some services available online following registration.
Single sign-on to enable access by citizens to multiple government Web
sites without repeatedly signing in is envisaged as part of the Australian
e-government Strategy to access Federal Government Information and
Services. This is to be available via australia.gov.au, the main gateway to
government information across jurisdictions.
With respect to relationships between the public and the private sectors,
on one hand, the DVS has been designed to be accessible by Australian
Government, State and Territory agencies, and potentially by the private
sector. On the other hand, and in the context of the above-mentioned lead
agency model, two interrelated initiatives have been launched to enhance the
security, simplicity and cost-efficiency of business to government trans-
actions:
• Australia’s Standard Business Reporting (SBR) program is a multi-

agency initiative involving 12 federal, state and territory government
authorities, principally revenue agencies. SBR was developed to
simplify business-to-government reporting by using business
software. The SBR program automatically pre-fills forms, provides
a common reporting language based on international standards via a
single secure online sign-on for users to all agencies involved.
• The VANguard platform, supported by the Department of
Innovation, Industry, Science and Research has been developed to
improve security of business to government transactions. The
platform acts as a trust broker between business and government
agencies to conduct transactions securely via a single entry point.
VANguard allows business users to conduct transactions with
multiple government agencies across jurisdictions using a single
digital credential and it reduces the development and operational cost
for each government agency of a dedicated identity silo, including for
example PKI. This is largely achieved through the use of a range of
digital credentials including Australian Taxation Offices’ certificates.
VANguard provides trust broker services for Australia’s SBR.
Implementation of the strategy

A governance framework was set up to guide and develop the Strategy
and the National Identity Security Co-ordination Group (NISCG) consisting
of representatives from central agencies of the Australian and State and
Territory governments, the Council of Australasian Registrars for Births,
Deaths and Marriages, Austroads and the Privacy Commissioner was
established as a high level group to co-ordinate and implement the National
Identity Security Strategy.
Following a successful trial in 2006, the DVS is being progressively
implemented, with more agencies planning to start using it in 2009-2010.
Currently, passports, visas and drivers licenses are among the types of
documents that can be verified using the DVS.
Interoperability of IdM systems is not a legal obligation in Australia.
Future developments are likely to encourage interoperability through the use
of international standards.
The 2008 National e-Authentication Framework promotes the use of
secure and interoperable electronic credentials in citizen and business-to-
government transactions and aims to assist agencies, jurisdictions and
sectors in authenticating the identity of the other party to a desired level of
assurance or confidence. This includes the deployment of electronic
credentials that are mutually compatible and conform to industry standards.

The framework provides guidance on developing the processes and
technology required to provide the desired level of confidence within the
broader context of an agency’s approach to identity and risk management. It
does not mandate any particular approach but encourages interoperable e-
authentication mechanisms so that individuals can expect similar authenti-
cation processes for transactions with similar assurance levels across all
three tiers of government within Australia.
Federal agencies seeking to establish new online authentication capacity
are required to use, unless a sound business case is made out, the
authentication infrastructure of designated lead agencies for government to
government, business to government, or “people to government” authenti-
cation. This is aimed at ensuring that costs both for government and non-
government users are contained through better use of infrastructure and
greater interoperability of systems.3
Information security and privacy are important themes in the Australian
IdM Strategy. There are no specific instrument to address this. Rather,
information security is mainly addressed through the broader 2009 Cyber
Security Strategy and Government agencies are subject to various legislative
and administrative requirements with respect to both security and privacy.
Australian government agencies are also required to comply with various
government standards such as the Protective Security Manual and the
Australian Government Security Manual. The security of personal data is
also regulated by the Privacy legislation.
In addition to threat and risk assessments carried out by security
specialists, the security of IdM systems can be audited (e.g. by Federal, State
and Territory Auditors-General).
Privacy Impact Assessments are undertaken by government agencies,
following guidance issued by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (now
the Office of the Information Commissioner). The Office has also issued
guidance related to privacy and PKI. For example, a Privacy Impact
Assessment (PIA) developed with the assistance of the Office has guided the
development of supporting processes and frameworks of the DVS. The system
was designed to optimise privacy protection: requests to verify a document are
encrypted and sent via a secure communications pathway through a “DVS
hub” to the document issuing agency. No personal data is transferred from the
document-issuing agency: the DVS only returns to the querying agency a
“yes” response if the document matches information held by the issuing
4
agency or a “no” response if the document details were not validated.
There is no policy in Australia with respect to proportionality between

the amount of personal information collected and the level of assurance
required in determining the appropriate level of authentication.
Australia’s identity management arrangements allow for the use of
pseudonyms to protect the identity of certain persons such as the victims of
domestic violence, those on witness protection programmes and law
enforcement officers working under assumed identities.
Australia’s Gatekeeper PKI Framework provides standards for the
collection of personal information related to the issuance of digital
certificates to individuals – where those digital certificates will provide a
medium level of assurance. The National e-Authentication Framework
provides a level of detail on the evidence of identity requirements based on
risk for different levels of assurance.
There is no centralised policy with regards to identity attributes: each
agency issues credentials to enable clients to access its services. Face-to-
face enrolment is generally used for higher value services. Voice recognition
is available on an opt-in basis by the agency facilitating social security
services.
A set of user awareness and education initiatives within the framework
of the Cyber Security Strategy promote online secure practices and
encompass the benefits and risks of various identity management
approaches. An ID Theft Booklet released by the federal Attorney-General’s
Department also helps to raise awareness of risks and benefits of Australia’s
identity management system by informing Australians about preventing and
responding to identity theft. There are no specific obligations in Australia to
inform clients or customers of incidents where there has been a loss or
corruption of identity data or other data breaches. The Australian
Government is, however, considering a recommendation of the Australian
Law Reform Commission relating to data breach notifications.
Challenges
• In lack of a single national identifier, a key challenge is how citizens
(and others) might enrol online to access services and benefits with
an acceptable level of confidence about a person’s identity. One
issue to be addressed is to what extent information, including that
relating to transactions, might be utilised to enable greater
confidence in claims about identity. Australia’s DVS may provide a
useful tool in this regard and help to facilitate online enrolment.
Austria
The national IdM strategy provides a framework that enables public and
private bodies to develop “Citizen Cards” that individuals can use as a
means for qualified electronic signature, sector-specific identification and
representation. Citizen Cards are issued by various bodies and can be used
in public and private sector contexts. The framework is based on a
centralised registration policy relying on national identifiers but includes
robust privacy protection technical measures that prevent linkability based
on the identifier. The IdM strategy also includes single sign-on to
e-government services.

In 2004, Austria introduced a comprehensive digital IdM strategy called
“Citizen Card”. Rather than a specific token, the Citizen Card is a
technology-neutral framework which defines minimal requirements that a
digital identity token needs to fulfill to provide a secure and privacy-friendly
signature-creation device that enables i) qualified electronic signature; ii)
“sector-specific” identification (see below); and iii) representation, whereby
the holder can optionally carry out legal transactions on another person’s
behalf.
“Citizen Card” tokens can be considered as universal credentials that
can be used in public and private sector contexts, issued by public and
private sector providers and based on different technical solutions. Citizen
Card tokens also enable single sign-on to public sector online services
through help.gv.at, a one-stop shop to public administration online services.
Austria’s IdM strategy is based on a:
• Centralised registration policy relying on the Central Resident
Register (and Supplementary Register for non-residents) established
in March 2002 which provides a unique number to all Austrian
residents. Resident registers existed prior to 2002 but were kept by
municipalities,
• Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
The Austrian IdM strategy takes privacy protection as a core design
concept at the legal, technical and procedural/operational level.

Citizen Card tokens are available as health insurance cards, civil servant
service cards, mobile phones, professional cards such as notaries and
pharmacists’, student service cards and bank cards. Many national, regional
and local applications require the use of a citizen card token (e.g. for e-
reporting of certain crimes, application and access to pension records and
child allowance, health insurance information, registration of a business,
etc.) or support its use together with other methods (e.g. for tax declaration,
e-banking, social security). The tokens can also be used for e-authentication
in e-business contexts, to prevent tampering with electronic invoices, and to
encrypt and sign personal documents.
In general, electronic identity tokens in Austria are prepared for being
activated as a Citizen Card but the Citizen Card functionality has to be
voluntarily activated by the holder, a process through which the actual user
identity data is written on the token. The registration process requires
personal appearance, for example at a registration office or at a post office
upon reception of a personal registered letter containing an activation code.
Where a trustworthy identity has already been established for an online
application, this identity data can be used to register a Citizen Card without
the need for the signatory to appear again personally. For example, citizens
already registered at the TaxOnline application do not need to personally
appear or be identified via a registered letter again to register a citizen card.
Identity data provided in the token includes a qualified certificate, a PIN
derived from the Central Resident Register (CRR) signed by the Govern-
ment as being linked to the individual, the name and date of birth of the
individual and, optionally, data related to an electronic mandate provided to
the holder by another individual. The qualified certificate enables authenti-
cation, the “identity link” enables unique identification.
Single sign-on is provided through the National Portal for e-government5
where individuals using their Citizen Card token have access to personalised
government services (e.g. taking into account their profession, marital
status, region, etc.), an electronic Safe for private documents, a reminder
service and electronic delivery services. Stored data is protected but can be
released to specific applications to generate pre-filled forms.
The Austrian Strategy for IdM is supported by a legal framework which
includes the E-government Act, e-government sector regulation, the
Electronic Signature Law, regulation of the use of the Central Resident
Register identifier, etc.
The Citizen Card concept is expected to facilitate the use of modern

e-government services and to enable other innovative solutions and
developments. Innovative IdM developments in Austria include qualified
signatures based on a mobile phone which offer a comfortable alternative to
smartcards. This project is a component of the European STORK project, to
which Austria is a leading contributor, and which aims to establish a
European electronic ID Interoperability Platform that will allow citizens to
establish new e-relations across borders, just by presenting their national
electronic ID.
The security and privacy policy of the Citizen Card framework aims to
establish trust in the Citizen Card system and privacy has been addressed as
a core design principle. The policy is based on a mix of legal (mentioned
above) and technical measures that provide a strong protection to the CRR
number and prevent public sector bodies to use, store and share the same
identifier in their database across government sectors.6 Concretely, the CRR
number itself is never exposed. For the same individual, each organisation
uses a different identifier cryptographically derived from the CRR number.
This mechanism reduces complexity and cost as it is based on the central
population register and avoids the multiplication of silo-based registration
schemes. Moreover, it protects the “parent” national identifier (never
exposed) and provides more protection to individuals against identity fraud
by enabling the revocation of its encrypted “children” and the issuance of
new ones, should encrypted identifiers be compromised. Finally, it
technically prevents individuals to be matched across several organisations
on the basis of their identification number (unlikability). Finally, a legal
framework provides additional protections, for example by creating 26
public administration sectors which have to use different “child” identifiers.
In addition, the supervision of the main components of the framework is
carried out by i) the Austrian Data Protection Commission which plays a
critical role at the core of the system by operating the register of PINs
(sourcePIN); ii) the Austrian GovCERT, operated by the department for
Federal ICT Strategy of the Federal Chancellery, also responsible for the
Citizen Card, which manages security breaches and cases of e-ID theft,
analyses incidents and takes appropriate measures; iii) the telecommunications
regulator (Telekom Control Commission) which supervises the qualified
signature framework. These bodies are all subject to regular internal and
external audits.
Finally, many Government Web sites as well as private organisations raise
awareness about the Citizen Card. Specific information and assistance is
provided by a Web site7, on the e-government portal as well as by telephone
and at a dedicated “brick and mortar” information center8. Individuals are
informed about the process to revoke their token at the time of issuance.
Challenges
A key challenge for the development of the strategy is the mode of co-
operation between all stakeholders involved in the Strategy as all levels of
the public administration as well as private sector participants have a role to
play and no one is in a position to provide binding instructions to the others.
In 2005, the Federal Platform Digital Austria was founded to help
co-ordinate a uniform e-government strategy. The platform involves public
administration bodies at all levels, i.e. federal, provincial, municipal and
local levels as well as businesses. All projects, strategies and guidelines,
including the IdM strategy, are collectively planned, discussed, agreed and
implemented in a co-operative and voluntary manner. This is a key success
factor for Austrian e-government initiatives. As there is no national
authority which has the competence to give binding instructions to all of the
involved institutions, co-operation takes place on a voluntary basis, and
recommendations from the Platform have therefore to be agreed upon during
in-depth discussions amongst all stakeholders.
The main implementation challenges include interoperability, in
particular at the cross-border level, as well as usability and acceptance
issues:
• To facilitate technical interoperability, the government promotes the
use of widely adopted standards and provides open source modules
to be integrated to online applications9. Use of foreign electronic ID
is possible in Austria if “the application is provided with a qualified
electronic signature which is linked to an equivalent electronic
verification of that person’s unique identity in his or her country of
origin.” Tokens of eleven countries have been decreed by the
Federal Chancellor as electronic IDs equivalent to a Citizen Card
token. Austria’s participation in the European STORK project aims
to address issues related to cross-border interoperability, in
particular where e-IDs are not based on qualified signatures10.
• To increase usability, the Austrian solution is based on technologies
that do not require users to install software on their computer, a
important point for individuals who do not use their card often.
Canada
The Pan-Canadian IdM Strategy focuses on the multi-channel delivery

of government services across all layers of government (“jurisdictions”). It
is based on a decentralised registration policy and on a federated trust model
where participants keep the maximum operational autonomy. The nature and
provision of credentials is fully decentralised. Single sign-on will be
provided on the basis of federation agreements. Canada has also established
a National Committee on Identity Management with public and private
players currently focusing on standards and which could potentially address
other aspects in the future. Most of the characteristics of and challenges
raised by the strategy’s implementation policies are related to the
decentralised nature of the Pan-Canadian IdM Strategy: the interoperability
of credentials within and across public and private sector IdM systems is
based on federation agreements; IdM frameworks operate under existing
legal requirements (e.g. on privacy); each institution is responsible for the
type of credential, for the choice of identity data to be used, of the level of
assurance to be provided, as well as for the information provided to users
regarding benefits, risks and incidents. Challenges relate to inconsistencies
across the various jurisdictions regarding legal requirements, languages and
accessibility. Uncertainty with respect to business models for private sector
use of the framework still needs to be addressed.

The Canadian IdM strategy focuses on the delivery of government
services at federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels (“Pan-
Canadian strategy”)11. In contrast with the definition of IdM in the OECD
Primer, the strategy covers offline and online identity management (e.g.
multi-channel delivery of services including telephone, in person, Internet
and mail). It aims to support a seamless and user-centric service delivery
experience to citizens and businesses when they are interacting with all levels
of government, where they can enjoy “simple, convenient and protected
access to multi-jurisdictional (federal, provincial, territorial) services in a
manner they choose and control” and where “all governments in Canada are
trusted, collaborative leaders in citizen-centered service delivery”.
The development of the strategy is the government’s response to the
multiplication of non-standard authentication frameworks implemented by
various jurisdictions which creates obstacles for collaboration between them
and increases cost. Expected benefits include convenient, secure and
privacy-friendly access to services for users, maximized use of resources
and improved efficiencies for participating organisations; reduced costs,
improved transparency and increased client satisfaction for the Government.
The Pan-Canadian Strategy is based on a decentralised registration

policy, where federated organisations trust each others’ assurances of
identity and operate in an environment that supports the use of client-chosen
credentials provided by multiple providers across multiple jurisdictions, via
multiple service delivery channels, irrespective of the technology used. Thus
there is no centralised identity authority in Canada. The authority to identify
individuals is prescribed by the legislative provisions that are specific to a
jurisdiction or to a department responsible for administering the legislation
(e.g. Canada Revenue Agency administering the federal Income Tax Act).
The strategy is designed to work in the current legislative framework. The
responsibility for identity management (and the relevant authorities) will
continue to remain with the individual departments.
The strategy includes four major components: i) foundational elements
to define key concepts (e.g assurance model, privacy code, trust model); ii) a
framework defining a high-level structure and architecture as well as legal,
privacy, security, identification trust and service experience requirements,
iii) a service delivery component identifying pilot projects; and iv) a
component supporting standards and guidelines.
The strategy addresses the separation of credential assurance from
identity assurance that enables a phased incremental approach where a
network of government organisations and commercial enterprises federate
credentials in the shorter term and identity in the longer term; multiple levels
of assurance; citizen-centric design based on a sufficiently large choice of
credential service providers; risk based approach balancing the need to
attract federation partners while mitigating the risks; cost efficiency;
technology neutrality to enable credential providers to enter the federation
regardless of the technology and to allow for the evolution of the
technology; autonomy of identity and credential management services.
Single sign-on is also a key goal and will be enabled through the
federation of credentials as issued by a provincial, territorial or federal
jurisdiction and eventually commercial providers. Over the longer term,
users will be able to use their credential of choice to enable single sign-on to
access government services. Once a user’s credential has been validated, it
will be possible to redirect her seamlessly to other programmes or services
without re-challenging her. As a result, once authenticated, she will be able
to easily access services having the same assurance level or lower.
The strategy promotes the use of open industry standards within
federation agreements to foster interoperability. It encourages competition
within the industry to provide the most cost-effective solutions and stimulate
innovation. For example, the government described, as a best practice (not
yet as a policy instrument), the interfaces between relying parties (such as

departmental portals and applications) and credential assurance providers.
In addition to the Pan-Canadian Strategy, some departments of the
federal Government have developed bilateral arrangements to harmonise
existing methods of identity management. Access Key, a unique electronic
credential that allows citizens to communicate securely with online enabled
government programs and services, is a single sign-on approach used by
some government programmes and services.
This strategy is currently being finalised, and its implementation is at a
planning stage with the identification of pilot projects to test and
demonstrate the concepts. Implementation is planned to be incremental.12
The first phase focuses on the development of standards-based
“anonymous” credentials at a given level of assurance (Level 2 or Level 3)
and on the federation of credentials across jurisdictions.
In addition to the strategy described above, Canada has established a
national committee on identity management (NCIM) which provides both
public and private sector members with a forum to co-ordinate views/
comments feeding into international standards development (e.g. ITU, ISO),
and exchange information and developments on identity management policy
and standards-related issues. Going forward, it is expected that the
Committee’s work will evolve beyond standards in such a way that it will play
a key advisory role in terms of the formulation of Canadian positions and
input to policy-level work (domestic and international).

The government is developing a federation model that will enable
multiple credential providers and acceptance of credentials from other
authoritative parties such as federal government, provincial/territorial
governments, municipalities, and commercial partners. This approach will
enable private sector issued credentials to access public sector online
services and vice-versa. However, various industry sectors (e.g. financial)
have adopted proprietary and non-interoperable approaches to IdM. While
there have been discussions aimed at pursuing a federated and co-ordinated
approach within the private sector (including public/private sector
partnerships), to date, none have led to any concrete outcomes.
There is no specific legislation for IdM in Canada. The strategy and its
implementation is based on existing legislation, such as, for the private
sector, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
(PIPEDA), and for the public sector, the federal Privacy Act. Canada’s
Criminal Code and its new identity-related offences is also an element of the
legislative framework.13
A set of policies, directives and standards support security, privacy and
interoperability of identity management between federal institutions. 14 One
example is the Privacy Impact Assessment Policy15 which requires that
privacy principles are taken into account when there are proposals for, and
during the design, implementation and evolution of programmes and
services that raise privacy issues. Institutions must include the results of the
Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) in the body of the submission or the
project brief, where applicable, to get the Treasury Board’s approval for
their project, including a summary of the actions taken or to be taken to
avoid or mitigate the privacy risks, if any, as per the Privacy Impact
Assessment. The use of PIAs in the private sector is recognised as a useful
tool for the development of IdM systems although it is not a requirement
under PIPEDA. Another example is the Directive on Identity Management16
which addresses proportionality of the personal information collected and
requires federal government departments to select “an appropriate set of
identity data (such as personal attributes or identifiers) to sufficiently
distinguish a unique identity to meet programme needs, which is
proportionate to identified risks and flexible enough to allow for alternative
methods of identification, when appropriate.” It remains a departmental
responsibility to define the necessary amount of personal information (i.e.
identity data) and the level of assurance required. Finally, the Directive on
Social Insurance Number which restricts the collection, use and disclosure
of this identifier by a government organization is also relevant17.
IdM systems will be monitored according to the Treasury Board
Secretariat (TBS) Management Accountability Framework18 which sets out
the Treasury Board’s expectations of senior public service managers for
good public service management. Federal departments’ performance would
be monitored according to the requirements set out in the Directive on
Identity Management.
It is the responsibility of each federal institution to inform users of the
benefits and risks, and of any incidents, within the existing Policy of
Government Security and Guideline for Privacy Breaches19.
Challenges
The main challenges relate to inconsistencies between the various
jurisdictions with respect to: i) legal issues regarding accountability, liability
and privacy, as there is no broadly accepted framework that directly
addresses identity management; ii) language requirements, as the federal
government is required to use both official languages whereas not all
provinces have this requirement, leading to increased costs and non-

compliance; and iii) accessibility and common look and feel across juris-
dictions. Other challenges relate to cost, consistency of user experience, and
the uncertainty of commercial business models which are compounded by
unresolved legal issues related to accountability and liability. Finally, there
are challenges associated with the need for many levels of stakeholder
involvement in the development of the most appropriate standards and
technologies.
Chile
The IdM strategy of Chile is based on the migration of the current paper
based national identity card to an electronic card20. The planned card is seen
as a driver for innovation. The current practice relies on the wide use by
public and private sector bodies of a national identity number established in
1969, originally for tax purposes. Electronic authentication based on this
number associated to a password is common practice in Chile. In the health
sector, biometric fingerprint identification is also available although not
extended to the whole health system.

The Civil Registry and Identification Service (SRCeI), within the
Ministry of Justice, is responsible for the management of identification data.
The planned electronic identity card is seen as a driver for innovation.
For example, although no decision has been made regarding such potential
innovations, it could carry medical data or be used as a payment mechanism
(e.g. in the public transport system). The government is also considering
adding digital certificates for electronic authentication in the card. Finally,
single sign-on is also envisaged for transactions with the public sector.
The strategy envisions the use of the citizen identification as the sole
input, to access any government information thanks to the planned enhanced
interoperability of public agencies information systems. The Civil Registry
and Identification Service joined the “Platform for Interoperability of State”
Project which is working to standardize the use of data and metadata and
which fostered the use of digital certificates for authentication across public
services.
As regards security, a specific regulation for Information System
Security21 is in place and an Information System Security Regulation led by
Ministries of Internal Affairs and Finance and which will include IdM, is
being deployed at the government level. A security committee, chaired by
the Director of SRCeI, defines rules and security audits applied to the
management of identity data. Additionally electronic signature certificates

are used for the operation of the service.
The law that created the SRCeI includes safeguards to protect personal
data. A privacy policy defined in the organic law of SRCeI and by the
Security Committee details measures to ensure the protection of personal
data. Nevertheless, no agency is responsible for the enforcement of privacy
protection in the context of IdM. An amendment to the Transparency Law is
being discussed in Parliament to entitle the Transparency Council to ensure
the protection of personal data. In practice, the SRCeI never delivers data to
public or private institutions but rather provides validation to queries. For
example, the SRCeI validates (or not) queries from the Health System about
names and data from beneficiaries by sending simple positive or negative
responses. Each public or private sector body define their own privacy
policy.
Finally, the government recognises the need for public awareness in the
context of the deployment of the planned electronic identity card.
The main challenges of identity verification systems in electronic forms
are not technical, since this is a problem largely solved by the industry. The
Civil Register and Identification Service is capable of providing
electronically, for example based on a fingerprint, the match score of that
fingerprint compared to the one stored. It is up to the receiving end to
determine whether the match is acceptable or not. However, current
implementation systems imply a latency exceeding the standards of current
banking systems.
Challenges
The main current challenge is the incorporation of enhancements to the
identity card and passport. These include improving safety standards and the
incorporation of a chip including both a protected area and an open area
where personal data could be stored. The new identity card is expected to be
operational by 2012.
Denmark
The Danish IdM strategy aims to provide individuals with digital

credentials for public and private sector online transactions as well as single
sign-on for e-government services, possibly extended to private sector
organisations in the future. It is based on a centralised registration policy for
digital credentials.

The Danish IdM Strategy aims to provide individuals, businesses and
public authorities with digital credentials for secure identification, digital
signature and secure email in public and private sector online contexts,
including for access to web-based public sector services and all Danish
banks (EasyID, or NemID in Danish). It also includes a single sign-on
solution for public sector Web sites (EasyLog-In, or NemLog-In in Danish).
NemID relies on a Public Key Infrastructure built upon a centralised
registration policy: identification is based on a unique personal number
assigned to all inhabitants in Denmark by the national central personal
register which has existed since 1968. Denmark does not have an identity
card tradition but uses a combination of social security card and driver’s
license, passport or banking card22. Thus, the framework does not aim to
establish a national electronic identity card but provides an infrastructure for
standardized and secure digital certificates that can be kept centrally in
hardware, on a USB token or on a smartcard. The certificate contains the
name of the person and a reference to the person’s personal identification
number. NemID digital certificates are provided for free to all citizens and
for the first three employees in enterprises.
NemLog-In single sign-on benefits for individuals include easy access to
public services through a personalised web portal23 where they can access
their own data collected by multiple public authorities, including tax
services and the local municipalities, without logging-in several times. The
main benefit for public authorities is a cheaper, simpler and faster process to
create new identity-based services on the web portal and other digital
services.
NemID is the second phase of the Danish digital signature initiative
(OCES) which started in 2003 and as of January 2010 resulted in a
penetration of over 33% of the adult population24 with over 120 public
sector agencies offering more than 200 services and 33 private sector
organisations offering more than 50 services. The objective is that by
November 2010, all self-service public sector services to citizens requiring
secure authentication must use only NemID and NemLog-in. Today the
EasyLog-in infrastructure is implemented in 22 cross-governmental digital
services, which the citizens can access through single sign-on.25 As of
October 2010, all public sector services must use digital certificates for
access and all citizens can require that all communication from the public
sector is digital.26 The Government aims to provide NemID cards to all the
population.
In 2009, EasyLog-in handled on average 10 000 unique users per day.

The system peaked in the spring 2009 with 400 000 logins and 110 000
unique users during one day (for an overall Danish adult population of 4.2
million people).27

The implementation of the strategy relies on a common security infra-
structure between the public (central government, regions and municipali-
ties) and financial sectors.
NemID credentials are based on a national standard using the national
identification number. NemID uses certificates provided to individuals after
a face-to-face identification step, for example in a bank, or registration by
presentation of an identity document obtained by face-to-face identification.
Although they are not technically “qualified certificates”, they provide a
strong level of assurance. NemID digital signatures can be generated from
any device connected to the Internet and capable of running a Java applet
downloaded from the Internet, without dedicated hardware (e.g. card
reading) or software being required (unlike for OCES). NemID uses two
factor authentication: users logon to a registered web service which estab-
lishes a secure connection to a central server at the Certification Authority
(DanID), then authenticate using a login and password as well as a
challenge/response one time password taken from a plastic card.
While OCES and NemID credentials can be used in public and private
sector contexts, NemLog-In is restricted to public sector organisations.
However, its technical model is based on an open federation, enabling
public and private organisations to join, leaving a possibility to extend
NemLog-In to private sector in future.28 One challenge for the Government
in 2010 will be to enable semi-public sector organisations such as govern-
ment-owned corporations (e.g. Danish Railways) and general practitioners
to use the public sector single sign-on solution.
Essentially domestic, the strategy is based on open international
standards and standard products to facilitate interoperability and cross-
border implementation.29
The broad adoption of NemID is expected to be stimulated by the
requirement to use it for e-banking and to use both NemID and NemLog-In
for public sector services by 1 November 2010.
The Strategy is supported by a legislative framework addressing the use
of the central personal register and electronic signatures (consistent with the
European Directive). Danish legislation has been modified several times, for
example to modify laws requiring a paper based signature or to regulate the

use of electronic health records.
Security and privacy for the issuance of digital certificates is regulated
by the National IT and Telecom Agency. The Agency issues certificate
policies30 which refer to the Danish data protection law. Certificates
contains only an ID number and optionally the name and email address of
the individual. The single sign-on service only stores information on log-in
sessions and access to logs is limited. The use of pseudonyms is being
considered in the context of the tender for the next four years’ solution. The
authentication service is designed so that only relevant information is made
available rather than all the attributes in the directory. The use of attributes
are regulated on a “need to know” basis.
The Danish law implements a supervisory and auditing scheme for
qualified certificates. For NemID certificates, an agreement between the CA
and the National Telecommunication Agency (OCES standard agreement)
sets out auditing and reporting requirements which are inspired by the
legislation on electronic signature.
NemID will be advertised commonly by the public and financial sectors.
Security awareness is addressed within the broader security awareness
raising campaign carried out by the National IT and Telecom Agency.31 A
web site is available for users of OCES and NemID digital credentials.
In case of security incidents, the Certificate Authority must revoke
related certificates. Users have to accept terms and conditions prior to using
NemID credentials. Users of NemLog-In have access to a short Terms and
Conditions page which gives details about the privacy policy. 32
Challenges
The main challenges faced for the development of the strategies are:
i) the need to invest resources to select or develop the most appropriate
standards and technologies is a challenge in an area where the technologies
and concepts are not yet mature; ii) the difficulty to attract resources as IdM
is often considered as a minor issue in most digital projects; iii) the lack of
knowledge about IdM in government agencies, challenging the establish-
ment of a dialogue with experts on the development of IdM initiatives;
iv) confusion regarding cross-organisational IdM versus intra-organisational
IdM that confuse stakeholders.
Implementation challenges include the involvement of many govern-
ment agencies, local governmental organizations, and their IT suppliers,
stakeholders’ learning curve to integrate IdM solutions in their applications,
interoperability issues related to digital signature, in particular regarding trust
and liability on the legal side and semantics and standards on the technical
side.
Germany
The German IdM Strategy is based on i) the migration of the mandatory

paper-based identity card towards an electronic identity card providing
individuals with a universal token for authentication on the Internet for
e-government and e-business communications; ii) certified “citizens portals”
to enable secure email, identity verification services and document safes;
and iii) a technical framework for interoperable and safe usage of digital
identities across administrative borders (SAFE). However, as a unique
identification number is not allowed by the Constitution, individuals are
identified by a set of attributes, and identification numbers are sector-
specific. Thus the Germany strategy is based on a centralised registration
policy which does not rely on a unique identifier.
National strategy for IdM 33

The national strategy for IdM in Germany is based on a centralised
registration policy relying on citizens’ registers of residence maintained by
municipalities. As the German constitution does not allow for the creation of
a unique personal identity number to be used across all services, individuals
will be identified by a combination of attributes such as first and family
names and date of birth. Sector-specific identification numbers are used in
areas such as tax, health and pension.
With the replacement of the current paper-based identity card with a
contactless smart card (nPA for “ePersonalausweis”), the government aims
to provide a universal token for strong authentication on the Internet for
e-government and e-business. Although it will be possible to use the card for
electronic signature, certificates will not be provided by default and will
have to be uploaded once the card is in the hands of the holder. Like the
current paper card, the nPA will be mandatory for all citizens aged 16 or
above.
With the De-Mail concept, the government aims to create the conditions
for the development of government-certified identity services by the private
sector such as:
• Secure email services, enabling citizens to open “De-mail” accounts
to send and receive email with a high degree of assurance regarding
the link between the email address and the individual behind the
address. This will enable communications similar to registered
letters in the offline world. In addition, the framework will provide
the possibility for individuals to use pseudonyms in their

communications with the legal certainty that under specific and
narrowly defined circumstances, such as a legal dispute, real
identities can be disclosed.
• Identity services to enable users to prove identity features. For
example, a user might generate a certified proof of address or age
and send it from her De-mail to another De-mail address.
• Document safe to securely store key documents in the long run.
The German strategy does not include single sign-on for transparency
reasons (personal data from online authentications may not be merely
forwarded to third parties). But tokens of single-sign-on systems can be
provided to the user on the basis of online authentication.
The Secure Access to Federate E-Justice/E-government (SAFE)
initiative is a technical framework for interoperable and safe usage of digital
identities across administrative borders (“trust domains”). Its goal is to
define open, interoperable and internationally standardised interfaces for the
participants in e-justice and e-government that allow secure access to
communication services as well as secure and reliable electronic communi-
cation. It includes secure registration, authentication and authorisation as
well as storage of communication participants. The standard is open and
allows for single sign-on solutions for accessing different services with the
same digital identity. The base concept, initially developed for e-justice, can
be customised by other e-government applications, generating an expanding
pool of interoperable e-government services with a common registration and
authentication interface.
These components are building blocks of the E-government 2.0
programme adopted in 2006 and implemented by the IT Commissioner of
the Federal Government established in 2007 to co-ordinate all e-government
activities in co-operation with relevant institutions at federal level.

Interoperability is a key characteristic of the strategy. One of the main
objectives of the IdM strategy is to provide a universal token for electronic
authentication on the Internet (nPA) for e-government and e-business
transactions and an interoperable IdM infrastructure for e-government
(SAFE). The nPA strategy was decided in 2005 and a general concept was
published in 2008. An ID Card Act was adopted by the parliament in
February 2009, pilots were initiated in 2009 and nPA was officially
launched in November 2010. Germany participates in the EU Stork project.
nPA specifications are planned to be in line with CEN and ISO standards.
The implementation of the SAFE concept started in 2009 for e-justice with
production rollout scheduled in 2010. SAFE is based on OASIS and W3C
standards. It is a platform independent framework which is open to various
registration and authentication methods. It will be brought into the European
Commission’s project “Distributed Identity Management” (DIM) as a
baseline for implementing an authentication system in the future EU E-
Justice Portal.
Legal privacy protection is provided by the Federal Data Protection Act
which implements the EU Directive 95/46/EC. The government followed a
“privacy by design” approach for the development of the nPA and privacy
protection is seen as a key feature of the card framework.
The nPA provides several important security and privacy protection
mechanisms: i) the Internet authentication function is restricted to services
that have been awarded special “entitlement certificates” beforehand,
thereby providing a high level of assurance to the individual regarding the
identity of the connected service; ii) attributes are provided upon users’
consent and only when they match a predefined list of attributes included in
the provider’s entitlement certificate, thus offering a proportionality
mechanism. In addition, users are able to check off the transfer of certain
data. iii) the provision of data from the card is protected by a mandatory user
PIN and strong end-to-end encryption secures the exchange of data; iv) data
fields provided by the card include pseudonym and yes-no responses
regarding age limit and address information; v) consistent with the
interdiction of a unique identification number, it is explicitly forbidden to
use the document number included in the card as an identifier; and vi) the
card contains a set of attributes including biometric data (digital image and,
optionally, two fingerprints) that enable to use it as a travel document within
the EU. However, biometric data will be technically secured to be used only
in specific authorised contexts (e.g. border control), excluding e-
authentication.
The use of a contactless RFID chip for nPA has raised concerns in
Germany. A special protocol has been designed and internationally
standardised to enable secure communications from the card terminal to the
nPA.
Auditing controls are foreseen through certification procedures for
hardware and software components. The data protection framework,
including supervision by the privacy regulator, applies to the electronic
identity card.
Information regarding the benefits and risks of the IdM system are
provided to users upon registration. A hotline is available for users who
have lost their ID card.
Challenges
Challenges highlighted by Germany include open infrastructure
character, security, privacy, usability and the need for an interdisciplinary
approach (technology, organisational, law).
Italy
The Italian national strategy for IdM is based on the migration of the
existing paper-based national identity card to an Electronic Identity Card
(EIC) intended for all citizens and on a National Service Card (NSC) which
aims to satisfy specific e-government needs. Both cards have similar and
compatible electronic features which enable electronic authentication to
e-government services, and, optionally, digital signature. However, the
service card, which is developed by regions and municipalities do not
include physical security features required by a national card used for offline
identity verification. The Italian strategy is based on a centralised policy
where registers maintained by municipalities are centralised at national level
and the fiscal code is a unique identifier across public sector databases.
National strategy for IdM34

The Italian IdM strategy is based on the deployment of national non-
mandatory Electronic Identity Cards (EIC) and National Service Cards
(NCS) to provide access to e-government services and enable digital
signature. The most recent reform35 of the legal framework, the so-called
“Digital Administration Code”, confirms eID through EIC and NSC, letting
Public Administrations deploy other tools of identification, as long as these
tools allow the identification of the person requesting the service. The main
drivers of the Italian IdM strategy are related to a better use of government
resources. The use of both cards for private sector transactions is being
considered and collaboration agreements with private sector are under
elaboration.
Launched in 2001, the EIC aimed to replace the identity card initially
established in 1931. It was designed to enable offline identification of
individuals similar to its paper-based predecessor, while offering, in
addition, electronic authentication to e-government services. However, as
adoption pace of the EIC was relatively slow, it was decided to roll out the
NSC to enable access to online services that had been developed for the
EIC, to users who did not yet have the EIC. The main difference between
the two cards is that the NSC does not include offline security features such
as holograms and pictures and therefore cannot be used as an offline
identification card. All public sector organisations providing online services
have to accept the EIC card although they can provide other means of e-
authentication such as with the NSC or other mechanisms. Some regions
have distributed NSCs under another name (e.g. “Carta Regionale dei
Servizi” in Lombardy).
Interoperability between the two cards is ensured by way of a common
set of requirements issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. For example,
an NSC issued by a region can be used to authenticate online services
offered within that region and services offered by national public sector
bodies. Both cards hold a digital certificate for authentication and can
optionally hold another certificate for electronic signature. Users have to be
equipped with a card reader and dedicated software to use the card. The
delivery of cards requires the physical presence of the individual. The cards
enable standard services provided by national or local authorities in full
autonomy. They also enable services that require further data to be uploaded
onto the card by municipalities.
A key characteristic of the Italian context is the large degree of
autonomy of the various layers of public administrations, from the national
government to municipalities including provinces and regions. While the
central state has full competence in relation to technical co-ordination of
administrative data and thus designs ICT standards to be used at national
and local levels, regions, in matters where they have competence, have
decision power over the creation and implementation of applications and
platforms. Regions, provinces and municipalities are autonomous in the
development of e-services, following centrally adopted standards. Thus
co-ordination is a key challenge, taken up at national level by the National
Agency for Digitization of Public Administration – DIGITPA (former
National Centre for IT in the Public Administration – CNIPA) which is
attached to the Prime Minister.

Although the EIC was launched in 2001, only 2.5 million Italians had
one in 2010 while 20 million had an NSC36. In 2006, the government
decided to stop the production of paper-based ID and replace them
progressively with EICs. However, the application of this directive by
municipalities, which control the process at operational level, has not been
optimal. As a result, it is likely that both the EIC and NSC will coexist in the
long run. Legally, public authorities must provide EIC- and NSC-based
authentication and can also provide other authentication mechanisms (e.g.
login/password).
Interoperability is a key characteristic of the identity card framework,

both at legal and technical levels. Technical interoperability is ensured
through compliance with a set of international and national standards.
However, interoperability across borders is limited, but Italy actively
participates in the EU Stork project. Legal interoperability stems from the
adoption of a Code of Digital Administration in 2005, updated in 2009 and
2010. The National Agency for Digitization of Public Administration
(DIGITPA) plays a key role for the governance of the interoperability
framework and for the dissemination and encouragement of the use of
standards, norms and service agreements.
The security of the “public system of connectivity” is addressed by the
co-ordination of Central and Regional CERTs, implementation bodies and
through the joint development of methodologies for preventing, monitoring,
managing and analysing security incidents and ensuring consistency across
the system. A “management centre” is responsible for the PKI and acts as
the registration and certification authority. The code of digital administration
covers security aspects such as the development of contingency plans in
case of disasters.
While no specific ad-hoc policy has been adopted for data protection of
public sector IdM systems, the digital administration code was issued after
auditing the privacy authority and joint interoperability guidelines will be
developed with the Privacy Authority. Although the Fiscal Code acts as a
unique identifier for the exchange of personal data across government
agencies, each record stored in the central database to facilitate exchange of
citizen data between municipalities and other public authorities is encrypted
with the public key of the issuing municipality. The digital certificate stored
in the cards to enable authentication contains a hash of a personal data file
rather than the holder’s personal data itself. Such data can only be retrieved
with explicit permission. Access to the chip is controlled by PIN code,
network operations are encrypted. If another certificate is included in the
card for digital signature, a different PIN is required to access it. Additional
data can be stored on the card such as biometric and health-related informa-
tion, but the consent of the holder is required.
The Italian data protection authority supports the concepts of “privacy
by design”, data minimization and privacy impact assessments in the context
of IdM systems and electronic authentication solutions. Following an
investigation of the Italian Tax Register which pointed out several data
security shortcomings (e.g. poor capabilities to monitor inappropriate access
and lack of measures to protect the database), in 2008 it adopted a decision
which set forth requirements to be applied to security and authentication
systems. The Italian data protection authority discourages the use of the tax
identifier as a national PIN.
Most information about benefits of the card is provided to users by the

issuing administration. Security advice and information regarding pro-
cedures in case of incidents are also often provided at time of issuance.
Challenges
The large degree of autonomy of many Italian public administrations,
whether jurisdictional (regions, cities) or sectoral (e.g. health) creates a key
governance challenge for a system mostly aimed at interoperability and a
model of shared technical rules. Another challenge is raising awareness of
citizens which is seen as an opportunity to address the relationship between
e-government IdM and the private sector.
Korea
The Korean strategy is based on a dual public and private sector PKI for
the provision of digital credentials to individuals and on the establishment of
a technical framework (i-PIN) to better protect the online use of the national
register number and enhance Internet users’ responsibility while preserving
freedom of speech. The broad adoption of digital certificates is promoted by
a policy or recommendation to use them for Internet banking, online stock
trading and online shopping transactions above USD 260. Both PKI and i-
PIN are based on a centralised registration policy relying on the Resident
Registration Number.

Several characteristics of the Korean context have to be taken into
account to understand the Korean IdM Strategy. First of all, there are only
274 last names in use in Korea and the three most common (Kim, Lee and
Park) account for nearly half of the population. Naturally, this situation
creates a challenge for identification processes in public and private
contexts, whether offline or online. One of the consequences is that Korea
has developed a national identity card and a central resident register. All
Korean residents are assigned a unique number, the Resident Registration
Number (RRN), a meaningful 13 digit number including gender, date and
place of birth. Another characteristic of the Korean context is that this
number has been widely used online, both for private sector and public
sector interactions, including for registration to Web sites, posting informa-
tion online, online payment, and identity check.
In this context, since 1999 the Korean IdM Strategy encourages the use
of digital credentials based on PKI and, since 2005, of a secure digital
identifier, the i-PIN. Both components of the Korean IdM strategy are based
on a centralised registration policy relying on the RRN.
The promotion of digital credentials by the governments is based on:
• Two Public Key Infrastructures: the National PKI (NPKI) which
enables the use of digital certificates for private sector transactions
and the Government Public Key Infrastructure (GPKI) for
transactions within the public sector.37
• The recommendation to use digital certificates (NPKI) for any
financial services such as Internet banking, online stock trading and
online shopping transactions above USD 260.
In parallel, the government developed a secure online identifier system,
the i-Personal Identification Number (i-Pin) to respond to a double
challenge: i) the overuse of the RRN online without appropriate protection
which led to a considerable increase in identity theft. The i-PIN aims to
provide a means for secure identification of individuals online based on the
RRN but without compromising it; ii) growing concerns that emerged
regarding an increase in privacy violations, defamation, cyber violence, and
offenses online. While recognizing the considerable benefits of the Internet
for the individuals and the Korean society, a heated debate took place in
2002 about how to tackle negative consequences of aggressive behaviour
online. Ultimately, the Parliament voted almost unanimously for the
development of an identity verification framework which aims to prevent
Internet users from abusing online anonymity by imposing some
responsibility on users38. The i-PIN is the key component of this framework
as it provides a simple and secure way to reveal the identity of a user
without requiring such identity to be exposed to the public.
The i-Pin system provides a high degree of certainty to the web site with
respect to the identity, age and gender of the end user without compromising
the RRN while still using it as a key element for identification, and without
requiring the real identity of the user to be exposed to the public.39 It can be
used to access e-government services. It has to be used for private sector
web sites with a minimum of 100 000 visitors per day.

The strategy is based on a legislative framework including the 1999
Electronic Signature Act which sets forth a framework for the use of
electronic identity credentials for e-commerce and electronic documents,
and the 2002 E-government Act for the promotion of governmental digital
certificates.
NPKI certificates are issued by five private sector accredited Certificate
Authorities (CA) and GPKI certificates by the Ministry of Public
Administration and Security (MOPAS). Korea Internet & Security Agency
(KISA) is the Root CA. NPKI certificates are provided for free when used in
a specific area (e.g. e-commerce, banking, stocks). All-purpose certificates
are provided for a small annual fee of USD 4. While the Government
Certification Management Authority acts as root CA in public areas, the
Korea Local Information Research & Development Institute provides GPKI
certificates to civil servants.
The number of digital certificates delivered is 23.6 million as of October
2010
Intersections or relationships between government and private sector
systems (GPKI and NPKI) are enhanced by a Certificate Trust List (CTL).
While the CTL mechanism is operational and does not raise specific issues,
it required a long and difficult process to reach an agreement regarding who
will operate the CTL and how to renew a certificate under the CTL system.
The “Framework for internet-Personal Identification Number Service” and
the “Message Format for i-PIN Service” have been adopted as national
standards in 2005 to enable the use of i-PIN in both sectors.
Innovative developments include a User Control Enhanced Digital
Identity Wallet System enabling users with a Digital Identity Wallet to log in
to websites without filling in ID and password information. A pilot test
service enabling the use of i-PIN with a Digital Identity Wallet is now
underway.
Korea encourages the interoperability of electronic identity credentials
by monitoring Root CA and accredited CAs to make sure they comply with
interoperability requirements. The Electronic Signature Act was modified to
introduce an obligation for private sector to comply with the NPKI standard.
Twenty-four norms for safety and reliability of a PKI certificates have been
adopted.
In addition, the Digital Identity Management Forum was founded in
2008 to enhance the interoperability of IdM, to share information and
knowledge of the technology and standards of IdM, to gather various
opinions from the private sector, and to deliver precise and explicit opinions
to policy makers. Finally, Korea is developing a way to interoperate i-PIN
and electronic certificates.
With respect to information security, key length and hash algorithms

have been upgraded. The Korea Communications Community (KCC)
enacted the technical and operational mandate for protecting Private data,
which describes the provisions to be observed by all companies with respect
to consumer data, with possible fines up to USD 1 000. KISA annually
investigates the security measures of the five accredited CAs and the
Authentication Agencies who issue ID and passwords for i-PIN.
Regarding privacy, the i-PIN framework has been established as a
privacy protection measure to secure the resident registration number.
However, the fact that the i-PIN framework systematically provides the web
site with the real name, gender and age of the user with a high level of
assurance could be seen as a potential privacy threat.
Korea is considering the modification of the Act on the Protection of
Personal Information Maintained by Public Agencies to include provisions
for all public agencies to perform a privacy impact assessment. The Act on
the Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and
Information Protection requires e-government systems as well as e-
commerce systems to encrypt the storage of some identity attributes such as
the resident registration number, bank account number, etc.
Awareness raising for i-PIN and digital certificates is promoted by the
dissemination of manuals and animation materials that help the public
understand how to issue and operate i-Pin and by conferences and campaigns.
i-Pin theft is prevented by the obligation for the agency managing the i-
Pin to notify users by email whenever their i-PINs are used to identify them.
Korea is also considering introducing data breach notification for Internet
service providers.
Challenges
Korea developed a Certificate Trust List (CTL) mechanism to enable
interoperability between NPKI for private sector and GPKI for govern-
mental sector. This system, operating since 2002, did not raise particular
technical problems but it was difficult to establish and in particular it took
long time to reach an agreement regarding aspects such as who will operate
CTL and how to renew an electronic certificate based on PKI with the CTL
system.
Japan
Although Japan does not have an IdM strategy, the manifesto of the
Democratic Party of Japan (August 2009) states that the possibility of
“introducing a unified serial number system for both taxation and social
security to facilitate monitoring of income” will be examined. A Cabinet
decision of 18 June 2010 states that a study has been launched regarding the
introduction of a citizens ID system that would both ensure the protection of
personal information and maintain consistency with the study for a system
for social security and tax numbers.
The Government of Japan has just begun to investigate the establish-
ment of an IT strategy under the new administration and will also examine
the relationship between the establishment of IDs, which is needed to
promote electronic government, and the number system. A Cabinet decision
of 11 May 2010 mentioned the introduction of a citizens ID system by 2013
as the common base of e-government enabling the linking of data between
central ministries and local governments, consistent with the protection of
personal information and the exploration of systems for common numbers
for social security and tax.
In order to improve information security in all Japanese government
agencies, central government agencies have to comply with “Standards for
Information Security Measures for the Central Government Computer
Systems” which includes a chapter on Identity Management. Compliance is
evaluated by inspections from the National Information Security Center.
There is no dedicated policy with regards to the protection of privacy in
relation to IdM systems so far.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg’s current IdM strategy of is based on the use of PKI

certificates issued by a certificate authority based on a public-private
partnership between the government and private sector companies
(LuxTrust). The strategy relies on a centralised registration policy based on
a central register, a unique identification number and a mandatory paper-
based identity card. Future plans include the distribution of national identity
cards containing embedded electronic data, including biometrics, to be used
for public and private sector digital interactions.

The current national IdM strategy of Luxembourg aims to increase
security in e-commerce and e-government transactions. It is based on PKI
certificates delivered by LuxTrust, a certification authority established in
2005 on the basis of a public-private partnership between the government
and key business actors such as financial institutions. The status of LuxTrust
enables close co-operation with financial institutions and is overseen by the
official financial supervisor (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur
Financier – CSSF). LuxTrust provides PKI certificates on smart cards and
USB tokens. It also provides “signing server certificates” which generate
one time passwords either via SMS messages or by using a dynamic
authentication token. Registration requires a face to face relationship with
one of the banks recognised by LuxTrust as registration authorities.
PKI certificates enable access to public and private sector online
applications and digital signature of documents and email40. With LuxTrust
PKI certificates, individuals can log in to a unique counter for citizen-to-
government interactions called “de Guichet” to carry out a large number of
formalities online. Private sector services using LuxTrust certificates are
mainly offered by banks and financial institutions.
The government maintains a centralised identity registration framework
based on i) a central register (“répertoire général”) established in 1979; ii) a
unique identity number which contains the individual’s date of birth and
gender and the use of which is limited by law to public sector and, in some
contexts, social security organisations, and iii) since 1939, a mandatory
paper-based identity card for all citizens over the age of 15.
One of the government’s objectives is to issue an electronic national
identity card containing embedded data, including biometrics, to be used for
public and private sector digital interactions.
Implementation of the Strategy

Interoperability is supported by including relevant stakeholders in the
working groups involved in issues related to dematerialisation of documents,
archiving and digital signatures and by relying on international standards.
Luxembourg is preparing cross-border interoperability by participating in
the European Stork project.
The design of government IdM systems was based on security and
privacy impact assessments. Governmental IT projects are submitted to an
independent internal security team whose policies are based on ISO 2700x
standards. External audits are carried out regularly and the IdM system is
audited and accredited against several ETSI standards by the national
standards and verification body41. Every major e-government project is

submitted to specific external intrusion tests before going into production.
The IdM system was designed following the recommendations of the
national data protection committee and complies with the national data
protection law. The strategy is based on strong authentication and does not
authorise the use of pseudonyms. Few attributes are included in the
certificates (first name, last name and nationality).
Awareness campaigns are carried out to inform citizens about the
benefits of IdM. Information on risks is provided to citizens through a
security awareness portal (www.cases.lu). In case of an incident, the IdM
policy includes a mechanism for the revocation of the credentials and
notification of the individual.
Challenges
Key challenges include the provision of secure solutions in a rapidly
changing technical environment, data privacy, interoperability and legal
environment. The key to an efficient deployment lies not so much in the
distribution of a large amount of electronic credentials but in their extensive
use by citizens through well-designed interoperable applications.
Netherlands42
The Dutch IdM strategy aims to reduce cost and complexity of

e-government services, fight fraud and increase simplicity for end users. It
includes the provision of digital identity credentials to citizens and
businesses for electronic authentication to public sector applications with
several levels of assurance. It is based on a centralised registration policy
relying on a centralised population register.

The Dutch IdM strategy is based on DigiD, a national digital identity
and authentication mechanism for electronic transactions of citizens and
entrepreneurs with public agencies. DigiD provides citizens and residents
with digital credentials to be used for their relationships with the Govern-
ment and for single sign-on to e-government services. It results from a
collaborative effort across ministries and local authorities to streamline the
implementation of e-government.43 The Ministry of the Interior and
Kingdom Relations oversees the programme and the Ministry of Economic
Affairs is responsible for the IdM strategy with respect to business-to-
government.
DigiD is based on a central registration policy relying on a central

population register which provides a unique “citizen service number” to all
citizens and residents44 and on a trade register, which provides businesses
with a company number. The Dutch population register was established in
1994. It is hosted by each municipality but connected by a national secured
network, managed by an agency of the Ministry of Interior, to prevent
multiple registrations for the same individual. The register contains personal
information such as the name, date of birth, gender, place of residence and
nationality and since 1 April 2010, all Government agencies have to use it to
obtain the personal data they need. From the citizen’s practice perspective,
nothing has really changed: they still have to provide information at a local
office as in the past. Thus the Netherlands have not established a completely
new registration system to support e-government. Instead, pre-existing
registration processes have been modernized to enable new services.
The objective is that DigiD becomes the only authentication system used
in public administration to deliver electronic services to citizens. However,
DigiD does not fully address the needs of business-to-government inter-
actions as it can generate only one code per company. A programme called
“eRecognition for Companies”, led by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and
based on a public-private co-operation, aims to establish an infrastructure to
accommodate the need for different levels of authorisation that may arise
within companies and institutions. This solution, based on an agreements
scheme, could also be used for business–to-business interactions.45
As the use of the citizen service number by the private sector is strictly
forbidden by law, the extension of DigiD to the private sector is challenging.
Reciprocally, the use of private sector IdM applications in a public sector
setting is also difficult. Nevertheless, organisations legally identified as
fulfilling a public sector role (e.g. some private sector hospitals) can use
DigiD.
DigiD currently provides two levels of assurance: username/password
(DigiD Basic) and username/password with SMS verification (DigiD
Medium). The username/password combination is issued after a check
against a population register. An electronic identity card to be used for a
third level of assurance is currently under consideration. Benefits for the
government include lower costs, better and more efficient service to
customers, fraud control, benefits for end users include trust, ease of use and
accessibility.46
Above 6.7 million citizens have created a DigiD for a population of 16.8
million (39% penetration rate), with 56% using DigiD Basic and 46% using
DigiD Medium. 17 million successful authentications have been carried out
in 2008.47 A large number of public administrations participate in DigiD48,
including central administrations, provinces, regions, hundreds of

municipalities, healthcare institutions, health insurers and police depart-
ments. Many services are available including the submission of online
applications for child benefit allowances and statutory old age pensions,
digitally signing a tax declaration, requesting a copy of the municipal
personal records database, applying for various permits, notifying a change
in address, paying municipal taxes, paying parking fines, etc.49

With respect to eRecognition for companies, the main challenges are
related to legal issues, to existing IdM systems in use in some government
agencies for interactions with companies that will have to be replaced, and
to the establishment of a sufficiently critical mass of services for companies
to be interested in joining the agreements scheme.
Interoperability is an essential aspect of eRecognition for companies
since it aims to provide access to all government agencies with a single
token compatible with the eRecognition scheme. eRecognition for
companies also provides for cross-border interoperability within Europe.
This programme supports the use of open standards and open source. The
final agreements scheme is expected to be adopted as a standard by the
Dutch standardization council.
As in other countries, a legal framework supports the implementation of
the Dutch IdM strategy, including in the area of e-signature, protection of
privacy and with respect to the use of the citizen service number.
The level of assurance required for the use of DigiD is related to the
type of service provided to the citizen. eRecognition for Companies offers
several levels of security, from a username/password combination to PKI
based solutions. In the scheme, providers make arrangements on the use of
security standards, protocols and liability.
With respect to privacy, the privacy framework applies to IdM. Privacy
Impact Assessments are being looked into by the government and the Dutch
data protection authority. A key concept is to avoid the use of sensitive
personal data in the IdM system used for business–to-government communi-
cation. Very little personal information is required for the eRecognition for
companies programme and the use of pseudonyms for company workers is
possible. The use of the Citizen Service Number is regulated.
DigiD is subject to yearly internal, as well as external, reviews.

Furthermore, public scrutiny is a strong driving force for quality control.
The parties working together in the network of eRecognition for Companies
will set up a system for certification.
DigiD was introduced several years ago via media announcements and
is well known to the general public. Users are informed about the usage of
their data and related risks and about their rights and duties during the
registration process. A national helpdesk on Identity Fraud is available for
the citizens. The provider of means of eRecognition for Companies has the
obligation to inform users in case of corruption of the data. Liability is partly
arranged in laws and will partly be subject to the arrangements between the
parties in the network of eRecognition for Companies. At the moment these
arrangements are under construction.
Challenges
The use of the Citizen Service Number is strictly regulated to limit its
use to the public sector and it is the unique and only identifier that
government bodies have to use to provide services to citizens. The
possibility to use private sector IdM applications and credentials for public
sector services as well as the use of public sector credentials for private
sector services is therefore a challenge.
Legacy problems are also challenging: some governmental agencies
have their own IdM systems in use for companies that they will have to
replace.
The widespread use of eRecognition for companies will start when
enough governmental agencies will have migrated their services online.
During the first years the challenge will be to seduce companies to make use
of it. This implies that the private sector will be reluctant to take its part in
the agreement’s scheme because the business case for them may only be
positive once use is widespread.
New Zealand
New Zealand’s identity management strategy is based on a set of

policies and initiatives for public sector agencies to manage their identity
assurance processes more effectively and in a more co-ordinated manner,
with a view to facilitate the delivery of Government’s services in the online
environment. These include an Identity Assurance Framework for
Government, a “Logon Service” allowing individuals to use the same logon
details to access all participating government online services and an
“Identity Verification Service” allowing individuals’ identity to be verified
by participating government service providers via the Internet. Privacy

protection and the security of personal data are integrated into the design of
these technical solutions, ensuring compliance with the 1993 Privacy Act.
Interoperability is addressed through the use of international standards. New
Zealand’s approach is based on a decentralised registration policy where
each agency is responsible for determining the appropriate level of identity
assurance for its online services.

New Zealand’s strategy for digital identity management is based on the
government’s recognition that agencies could manage their identity
assurance processes more effectively and in a more co-ordinated manner, to
the extent permitted under the existing law. The general approach is
decentralised, whereby agencies are responsible for determining the level of
identity assurance that is necessary when providing their services to
individuals, and a range of documents are generally accepted to verify
identity, where necessary. The government supports agencies with a range
of policies, standards, and guidance material such as the 2008 Identity
Assurance Framework for Government (IAF)50 which encompasses
agencies within the public sector and also other agencies with an interest in
identity assurance. It supports “citizen-centric” services and the reduction of
the amount of identity information held by agencies, through the use of real-
time verification processes.
In 2003, the government designed an all-of-government authentication
solution, taking privacy and security as key considerations, to allow users to
have a single username and password to access a variety of government
services across many agencies51 (“igovt Logon Service”, launched in 2007),
and to verify their identity securely online when accessing these services
(igovt Identity Verification Service – IVS, launched in 2009). At present,
eligible applicants enrol in person for an electronic identity credential
containing minimal identity information (“igovt ID”), their photo and
personal details are compared against a passport or citizenship record held
by the Department of Internal Affairs. “igovt IDs” are currently only able to
be used in connection with one agency’s online service. A user logs onto
that service’s website and enters a code that is sent to the user’s mobile
phone. The user may then choose to consent to the release of the information
that makes up his or her igovt ID, i.e. full name, date of birth, place of birth
and gender, to the agency to verify identity. It is expected that legislation
would be enacted to support the future use of the igovt IVS by a wider range
of individuals and agencies.
igovt initiatives are aimed at public sector services and their extension to
private sector to foster the development of new online products and services
would require further assessment. Access by private sector agencies to
individuals’ identity information held on government agencies’ systems may
occur only to the extent permitted by law. In some instances, there are
specific legislative provisions governing the disclosure between government
and private sector agencies of personal information for certain purposes such
as to support the delivery of health or welfare services.
The government has also developed a Data Validation Service which
can immediately confirm whether identity data entered by users is consistent
or not with authoritative record in the database held by the Department of
Internal Affairs. This can include details on citizenship, passports and births,
deaths and marriages databases and registers. This system will be extended
to private sector organisations which meet strict security, privacy and
integrity criteria as a way of confirming identity and reducing costs. It is not
proof of identity in itself, nor is it conclusive proof that the document is
valid since a true set of data on a counterfeit document could be overlooked
by an inexperienced operator. The role of the Data Validation Service is to
support the gathering of a number of pieces of corroborating evidence to
prove identity where presentation of documents is part of the business
process.

Interoperability of e-government identity management systems is
achieved through the 2002 E-government Interoperability Framework (e-
GIF) which is mandatory for core government agencies, recommended for
the public sector and encouraged for local government. The igovt Logon
Service and IVS are both interoperable and supported by open standards. In
respect of identity verification, the e-GIF includes the Evidence of Identity
Standard, a good practice risk-based standard for government agencies when
verifying identity online or offline.
The Privacy Act 1993, including the regulatory role of the Privacy
Commissioner, applies to IdM systems. The Privacy Commissioner can
receive complaints from individuals, investigate the matter and resolve it
through conciliation, mediation or by making recommendations. Security
provisions are included in the Privacy Act which controls how agencies
collect, store, use, disclose and give access to individual’s identity information
or other personal information, including regulating the use of unique
identifiers that agencies assign to individuals’ information.
The NZ ICT Security Manual contains policies about how ICT security
for the New Zealand Government is managed, implemented and documented.
It also includes ICT security standards, principles and advice relating to
specific aspects of ICT systems, such as hardware, software and access
control.
The igovt services are designed, implemented and deployed in a security
and privacy conscious manner, compliant with the ICT Security Manual,
covering all aspects of their life cycle, including their ongoing operation and
administration. The igovt services have been designed in a privacy-
protective way, in consultation with the Privacy Commissioner. They
require neither a physical card nor a unique identifier. There is a separation
between the logon and identity verification processes, and between those
processes and the transaction that an individual undertakes with an agency.
An individual’s identity is authenticated with each authorised agency using
an identifier that is unique to that agency. There is no common unique
identifier through which any agency can find out what services an individual
has been accessing through another agency. While the Department of
Internal Affairs holds a record of all agencies where an individual has used
his or her electronic identity credential, the Department does not record
which specific services an individual has accessed at each agency.
Individuals can check their personal information before it is sent to an
authorised agency, and have control over whether or not it is sent. Only the
minimum amount of identity information is transmitted to the agency. No
biometric information, including the individual’s photograph, is sent to an
agency to authenticate the individual’s identity. Individuals can also monitor
how their personal information has been accessed and used and, if they
detect misuse, report this for investigation by the Department of Internal
Affairs. As an individual’s identity is authenticated to a high level of
confidence when creating an igovt ID, and because of the secure way it is
used, the risks of other people impersonating the individual are reduced.
The Privacy Commissioner encourages agencies to undertake Privacy
Impact Assessments for significant new initiatives involving the handling of
personal information. Privacy Impact Assessments for the igovt Logon
Service and IVS have been undertaken by independent assessors, and will
continue to be undertaken periodically. The recommendations made in those
Privacy Impact Assessments have been given effect in respect of the design,
architecture and operation of the igovt services.
The igovt logon service and IVS have both been developed in
compliance with the above mentioned Evidence of Identity Standard. Many
agencies’ services are integrated only with the Logon Service, which means
that users are able to transact pseudonymously for those services.
In general, the collection, storage, use and disclosure of any type of

identity attribute, and unique identifier associated with that information,
must comply with New Zealand’s Privacy Act 1993. In some instances,
particular laws govern the certain types of records containing identity
information, unique identifiers and biometric information. In 2009, a cross-
government group of agencies issued guidance material to inform agencies’
decision making when considering biometric technologies for identity-
related business processes. In designing online and offline identity authenti-
cation processes, agencies should take account of the fact that in New
Zealand, a person may adopt a name through usage and reputation
(including, for example, adopting a spouse’s name on marriage), and
legitimately continue to use different names in different contexts. Indeed,
individuals may legitimately hold a range of documents that provide
evidence of their use of their different names.
External security and privacy specialist organisations undertake regular
audits, reviews and tests. Measures to protect personal data taken by
agencies vary depending on the identity management system, depending on
what is reasonable in the circumstances. Audit and event logs are kept and
are regularly monitored for anomalous entries.
Each agency is responsible for raising awareness regarding the benefits
and risks of its identity management system. The Department of Internal
Affairs intends progressively to make people aware of the benefits and risks
of using the igovt services. Services based on the igovt framework provide
their users with help desk contact details. Users are able to view their
personal details online, including information about where their logon and
igovt ID has been used, and who has accessed their personal information. In
2008, the Privacy Commissioner issued voluntary data breach guidelines to
assist agencies deal with incidents of unauthorised access to or collection,
use or disclosure of personal information.
Challenges
The creation of new arrangements (whether through new or existing
legislation) for sharing individuals’ personal information between govern-
ment agencies, or between government and private sector agencies must
ensure that public trust in government is not undermined. This has been a
key consideration in the design of the igovt services.There are also practical
challenges involved with the implementation of an e-authentication solution
across government, due to the variety of types of personal information held
by different agencies for different purposes. In practice, personal informa-
tion relating to the same individuals is often inconsistent and, in some cases,
of poor quality.
Portugal
The main driver for the Portuguese national IdM strategy is the
modernisation of the public administration towards user-centric processes
and services. The strategy focuses on the Citizen Card project, which
consists in the replacement of several public sector traditional cards with a
single smart identity card enabling in person, Internet and telephone based
authentication as well as digital signature, both in public and private sector
contexts. The card is seen as a driver for innovation enabling new public and
private sector services. A single sign-on identity provider is being established
to enable public and private sector to offer authentication from a common and
central point based on the Citizen Card. The framework is based on a
centralised registration policy relying on the pre-existing population register.

The Portuguese national strategy for IdM is based on the Portuguese
Citizen Card project (Cartão de Cidadão), a physical and electronic
mandatory document which allows citizens to identify themselves physically
and electronically and to legally produce a valid e-signature. The card aims
to replace the former mandatory paper based national identity card in place
since 1914. It is based on a centralised registration policy using the national
population register. Although it can be used in public and private sector
contexts, its primary objective is to contribute to the development of a more
user-focused, integrated, convenient and effective public administration
including through new customer-oriented advanced services and less
interactions related to citizens’ identification. The card puts together in a
single document several national identification documents (identity, health,
tax and social security cards), supports safe electronic interactions between
the government, citizens and private entities and it encourages demateriali-
sation and simplification of public administration’s procedures. It is
instrumental in achieving the objective of placing companies and individuals
at the core of the government’s modernisation process.
The Portuguese IdM strategy supports strategic modernisation object-
tives such as i) enhancing security of identification processes; ii) introducing
legal equivalence of electronic authentication to traditional in-person
identification methods thus fostering dematerialisation of processes and
documents; iii) alignment with EU requirements for citizen identification;
iv) simplifying citizens interactions with public and private organisations by
combining authentication and signature mechanisms; v) fostering the use of
electronic services; vi) improving the delivery of public services by aligning
technological and organisational modernisation processes; vii) rationalising
resources, means and costs for all stakeholders.
Citizens can authenticate themselves to public administration portals and

sites using the Citizen Card and the government is implementing a Single
Sign-On Identity Provider for public and private sector organisations which
will provide a common and central point of authentication for citizens, based
on the Citizen Card.
The overall management and business operation of the Citizen Card
project falls under the responsibility of the Agency for Public Services
Reform (AMA) and Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN).
Implementation of the Strategy

The Citizen Card was launched in 2007 and granted to all citizens52
from the age of 6 years old. in December 2010 4.2 million cards had been
distributed to the population and 39% of citizens opted to activate the e-
signature. It costs EUR 15 (in December 2010).
The government considers the Citizen Card as a driver for innovation as
it enables the development of new services which would not be possible
without it. Flagship applications include creating a company,53 registering a
car, and reporting a crime online.54 Citizens can also access the citizen
portal55 for example to change their address, and access regional e-
services.56 Since December 2009, eProcurement platforms are dematerialised
and use citizen cards and certificates. The card can also be used for
authentication to information systems of specific organisations.57 The card is
also used in private sector contexts, for example to support bank services such
as the opening of a new bank account, or to sign private contracts, enabling
authentication on private websites or workers assiduity registration
The card includes a large range of security features which enable its use
in various contexts and foster the deployment of new services. They include
PKI services with revocation functionalities, time stamping services, legally
valid digital signature and multichannel identity authentication, i.e. in person
with “match-on-card” biometric authentication (where the biometric match
is taking place on the card), by phone with a one-time password generated
with the card, by Internet using the card’s digital certificate. Confidentiality
and integrity are provided via a contact chip with information storage and
cryptographic processing capacity.
The use of international standards is considered as essential to ensure
interoperability, market competition for services around e-ID and to
encourage cross-border applications. Standards are promoted in all projects
developed by the Agency for the Public Services Reform (AMA). The
Citizen Card implements several ISO, CEN, ICAO and other standards. For
example, it enabled Portugal to sign bilateral agreements with Belgium,
Estonia and Spain to allow citizens of one country to create a company

online in another participating country using their national citizen card
(Portugal participates in the EU STORK project).
To encourage the development of card-based applications, development
cards are available and a development kit can be downloaded online.
Interoperability of government’s IdM systems at national level is
enabled by the “Electronic Certification System of the State” (SCEE) which
constitutes a hierarchy of trust that guarantees security and strong electronic
authentication within the public administration and with citizens and private
companies. The SCEE operates independently from other PKI, whether
private or foreign, but allows interoperability with the infrastructures that
fulfil the necessary authentication requirements. All IdM infrastructures
depend on the same national root and follow a similar policy. The Citizen
Card is the largest branch (in terms of number of certificates issued) of the
SCEE hierarchy. The SCEE is managed and monitored by the Management
Center for the Electronic Government Network (CEGER)
Finally, interoperability is also supported by a legal framework which
defines the regulatory requirements that all electronic ID certification
systems must comply with (Decree-Law 116-A/2006) and which makes the
use of the Citizen Card authentication and signature mandatory for public
services providing e-services to citizens (Ministry Council Resolution
n°109/2009).
The National Security Agency (Autoridade Nacional de Segurança) is
responsible for verifying compliance with security requirements by the
Certification entities. Audits are also carried out by external and
independent auditing teams. All systems and processes used by the public
administration for issuing and managing citizen cards are authenticated and
registered to enable third party audits.
With respect to privacy, the Citizen Card was designed to comply with
the legal interdiction to share identifiers and data across public services.
Thus the data stored on the chip includes the national identity card number,
social security number, tax number and health user number instead of one
cross-cutting number. Information about the individual is kept separately in
the database of each body involved in its use. The card also includes two
certificates, one for e-authentication and one for e-signature, biometric
attributes (picture and fingerprint) that enable match-on-card biometric
verification, guarantying privacy by not permitting access to any personal
data without the individual’s express consent, or other data printed on the
card such as full name, gender, place and date of birth, name of parents,
height and nationality. The card is activated by the citizen upon reception of
a PIN letter. The policy and the law have been reviewed by the National
Data Protection Authority.
The Citizen Card is highly accepted by citizens but the government
recognises the need to promote electronic services and explain the
advantages of the card such as simplicity and confidence. The government
organises communication campaigns to promote the card and, when they
receive their card, individuals are asked to sign a document that provides
information about its major benefits and risks. Citizens can report incidents
to a 24/7 support service which can manage identity suspension/revocation
in real time.
Since July 2010, the Portuguese Citizen Card can also be used for
authentication to the major European e-government portals. Interoperability
was accomplished in the context of the European STORK project that
established a European eID Interoperability Platform.58
At a national level, Portugal is currently extending its national eID
platform in order to allow additional attributes (“citizen roles”) to be
accessed using the Portuguese Citizen Card, for authentication and signature
purposes – for example “engineer role”, “public servant role”, “company
CEO role”, “teacher role”, “medical doctor role”, among others. This service
is expected to be available, in pilot phase, during 2011.
Challenges
Challenges include:
• Horizontal political support for the overall management and
business operation of the Citizen Card was a key strategic challenge.
• Putting into practice the interoperability concept. The legal consti-
tutional barrier to centralise the identification system preventing the
use of a single identification number was overcome by the adoption
of identity federation, communication through web services (WS*
standards), secure cryptographic messaging and other interoperable
standards to enable interactions between different information
systems platforms. Interoperability relies on the use of identity
federation through the Portuguese National Interoperability Platform
as well as eID open standards.
• Functional and business process optimisation along all the
workflows that support the main Portuguese identification systems:
improving data quality not only in identification processes but
mostly developing new opportunities to dematerialise processes
using e-ID potential.
• Awareness raising and communication about the services, although

penetration and acceptance of the citizen card is very high.
Slovenia
The national strategy for IdM in Slovenia aims to generalise digital

certificates for electronic authentication and signature. It is driven by the
e-government strategy which aims to deliver better government services
with fewer resources. The framework is based on a central registration
policy relying on the personal registration and tax numbers for the private
sector and on a standalone centralised identity database for the public sector.

The strategy for IdM in Slovenia is driven by the implementation of the
2008 e-government Strategy which aims to foster the delivery of better
government services with fewer resources. Key concepts to reduce cost and
increase quality and uniformity of services include the development of a
shared infrastructure and the reuse of modules. A key direction is the
limitation of the number of credentials that citizens have to use to access
e-government services by providing common electronic signature and
authentication mechanisms with certificates and username/password. One
important building block is the implementation of the “authentic source”
principle whereby users should not be requested to provide the same
information twice: information should be stored in a single authentic source
after the first request and other e-government services should tap into this
source instead of requesting the information again from the user. A new
action plan implementing the e-government Strategy was adopted in April
2010. The development of an electronic identity card has been planned since
2003 but suspended several times.
With respect to credentials, the strategy is based on the availability of
digital certificates for public and private sector transactions. There are three
private sector registered certificate service providers and one public sector
provider in Slovenia. Qualified certificates issued by any of these four
registered providers can be used to access e-government services. Some
banks accept only certificates from the public sector or from the provider
operated by banks.
Single sign-on is included in the action plan for e-government in order
to support the concept of one-stop-shop e-services accepting multiple
credentials based on different technologies and devices but privacy and
security aspects have not yet been fully analysed. Companies can already
use one-stop-shop access to nine institutions and e-social security services

aim to integrate up to 22 services.
Identity Management is also addressed on a sectoral basis, namely for
local e-government, e-health and e-justice.

In order to stimulate adoption of electronic identity management by
citizens, the government required using electronic means to submit tax
returns59.
Security requirements for certificate service providers are defined in a
series of decrees and privacy requirements are established in the Personal
Data Protection Act. Inspections of certificate service providers are carried
out by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and can
also be carried out within the framework of an accreditation scheme which
was not brought into force yet.
Slovenia is a member of the EU Stork Project and supports the model of
interoperable electronic ID mutually recognised in EU member states. The
Slovenian Electronic Commerce and Signature Law includes mutual
recognition as a means for integrating the Slovenian economy into the
international economy.
Slovenia has developed a national interoperability portal and maintains
an inter-sectoral working group to facilitate technical, semantical, legal and
organisational interoperability. Certificate service providers are responsible
for the technical solutions they provide and can offer different types of smart
cards and middleware. While there are no legal obligations or limitations
regarding compliance of certificates with standards, legal oligations are
likely to be established in the future to support new solutions.
Interoperability implementation challenges are related to strict privacy
protection provisions for public sector agencies. While private sector
certificate providers can use the tax or personal registration number to map a
certificate to its holder’s data, the public sector certificate provider is
required to use a specific certificate serial number and the Ministry of Public
Administration has to keep all personal data in a standalone database. This
discrepancy between public and private sector make it more difficult for
private operators to support certificates from all providers.
Regarding cross-border aspects, two pilot projects addressed technical
and semantic interoperability through the use of international standards and
highlighted a number of technical difficulties. They also helped identify
organisational and legal interoperability arising from the exchange of
information from national registers between different countries as a more

difficult challenge to overcome.
Finally, the last challenging area relates to the complexity of identity
management for users.
Challenges
A key challenge is the need for a critical mass of users and services in
both the private and public sectors to foster adoption and use and therefore
return on investment. The government is facing this difficulty for example
as it plans to generalise the use of mobile-based certificates.
National and cross-border interoperability are seen as key challenges for
IdM.
Spain
The Spanish national IdM strategy is based on the provision by the

government of an IdM infrastructure to foster the development and use of
public and private sector electronic services and facilitate e-inclusion. The
strategy promotes the use of qualified PKI certificates both by the provision
of a mandatory electronic national identity card (Documento Nacional de
Identidad Electrónica) replacing the paper-based card and by the
establishment of a legal framework for electronic signatures and for its use
in the public sector. The framework is based on a centralised registration
policy relying on the national register number which is included in all
qualified certificates. Interoperability issues are addressed by a validation
platform for digital certificates and electronic signatures and by a national
interoperability framework for the public administration.

With more than 19 million “Documento Nacional de Identidad” (DNI)
delivered between 2006 and 2010 and 500 000 cards being issued monthly,
the Spanish national electronic identity card can be seen as the first pillar of
the Spanish national IdM strategy. The card is mandatory for all citizens
over 14 and replaces the paper-based identity card initially created in 1944.
The electronic card is being smoothly deployed and rapidly adopted,
probably as it is perceived by individuals as a natural evolution of the paper
one. It includes a qualified certificate for strong electronic authentication of
the identity of the holder and another one for electronic signature of
documents which provides the same legal validity as a handwritten
signature. Issued by the Police Directorate in the Ministry of Interior, the
card is also a secured physical document used for the verification of identity
and citizenship offline. The national register number assigned to all citizens
is printed on the card and included in its qualified certificate.60 This number
is also included in all other qualified certificates issued in the country.
Nevertheless, the card should not be seen as the only or main element of
the framework. The strategy is also supported by a legal framework
including:
• The 2003 e-signature law61 which transposes the European Directive
1999/93 on a Community Framework for Electronic Signatures. It
establishes a voluntary accreditation scheme for certificate service
providers without prior authorisation and assigns the responsibility
for the supervision to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The law
defines three levels of digital identity: electronic signature, advanced
electronic signature and qualified electronic signature (advanced
electronic signature based on a Secure Signature Creation Device or
SSCD). The law also allows public administrations to define their
own requirements for the use of digital identity in e-government
services.
• The Citizens’ Electronic Access to Public Services Law62 adopted in
2007 to foster the deployment of e-services in the public sector. The
law defines the legal requirements of the Spanish Public
Administration Digital Identity System, including the use of
electronic identities by citizens, public employees and public
administrations for e-government services. It recognises the right of
citizens to use their electronic identity card in any Spanish
e-government service and the obligation of public administration to
accept advanced signatures based on qualified certificates. In
practice, administrations can choose to ask for a simple electronic
signature (e.g. a password) or an advanced electronic signature.
Both authentication mechanisms can coexist.
The Spanish market for digital certification is relatively dynamic with
more than 15 public and private commercial certificate service providers.
Public administrations must accept qualified digital certificates regardless of
the public or private nature of the issuing service provider. Qualified
certificates delivered by private service providers are used in private sector
contexts and are equally accepted for e-government applications and
interactions with public administrations. Conversely, national identity card’s
certificates can be used for private sector applications.63 One bank allows its
clients to be identified by their national identity card when they require
financial services online and it is adapting its ATM machines to accept
identity cards instead of traditional bank cards. Interestingly, Cisco has
developed a system to allow users to be identified in companies’ Virtual

Private Networks with their national identity card.64
The third pillar of the strategy addresses interoperability issues raised by
the various types of certificates available and multiplicity of certificate
service providers. It includes:
• A national validation platform called “@firma”, established in 2006
to tackle interoperability issues raised by the high number of
qualified certificates in circulation. Operated by the Ministry of
Territorial Policy and Public Administration, @firma carried out
more than 14 million validations in 2009 (against 880 827 in 2006).
The platform validates certificates and signatures issued by 13
certification authorities, it can handle more than 100 types of
qualified certificates including those included in the national
identity card. Its main clients are public administrations which use it
to validate certificates used by citizens in their e-government
applications. It also provides time stamping services and an e-
signature client program that allows citizens to sign documents in
various e-signature standards before submitting them online. It is
planned that @firma will in the short term recognize certification
authorities from other EU member states such as the Portuguese
identity card and, in the medium term, will validate qualified
certificates from authorities included in the EU Trusted List of
Certification Service Providers.65
• An interoperability framework which establishes that public
administrations will have a policy for electronic signature and
certificates and that the General Administration of the State will
define a policy for authentication and mutual recognition of
electronic signatures to be used as a reference by other public
administrations. The framework covers best practices for
certification service providers and validation platforms and plans the
development of a technical interoperability guide. Security is
addressed in the National Security Framework. In practice,
interoperability is addressed through the use of international
standards and norms, including X509, SOAP, WSS, WS-I, XML,
SSL and OSCP.

The strategy is seen as a driver for innovation in particular with respect
to fostering cross-border electronic authentication and thus enabling or
facilitating new services or the expansion of existing services to new
markets. For example, an agreement signed recently with Portugal enables
Portuguese electronic identity cards to be validated in Spain for Spanish

e-government services. Further, @firma is expected to support the validation
of certificates issued from other countries’ providers, potentially all EU
Member States Trust Lists. In addition, Spain participates in the EU STORK
project for electronic identity card cross-border interoperability within the
EU. The project aims to use @firma validation services to enable Spanish
citizens holding a digital certificate from a provider recognised by the
Spanish Ministry of Industry to get access to other European e-government
services in a transparent manner. Reciprocally, Spanish administrations will
be able to identify foreign citizens by means of their national electronic
identity card or qualified certificates.
As regards security, a proposal on assurance levels for electronic
identity credentials setting three levels of assurance has been developed. In
the private sector, it is the responsibility of the service owner to permit more
or less rigid authentication methods, except when the law requires the use of
electronic signatures. All e-government services must recognise the new
electronic identity card which is therefore likely to become the standard
solution for e-authentication in public sector contexts. The identity card’s
has been certified as a Secure Signature Creation Device against the
Common Criteria by the Center for Cryptology. Access to the certificates
requires the use of a PIN code and/or fingerprint match. Validation services
provided by @firma are available to all eGovernment services of the country
through the Private Administrative Network for Spanish Administrations
(Red SARA) that interconnects all public bodies and offers encrypted
channels. It can also exceptionally be offered temporarily over the Internet
but all requests have to be signed. All @firma responses are signed for
integrity and non-repudiation purposes. @firma is being certified by the
National Center for Cryptology against the Common Criteria as Validation
Authority compliant with EAL2+ level.
@firma is subject to auditing requests from public authorities or
customers. Validation requests and responses and other actions performed
by @firma as well as business and error alarms are logged in the central
database of the validation platform. Logs are internally signed by the
platform every day and can be used for auditing with guaranteed
authenticity and integrity of the information they contain.
As regards privacy, the whole framework complies with data protection
principles. Qualified certificates contain only the full name and national
identity number of the holder. According to the data protection and e-
signature laws, each time a citizen uses a certificate for authentication
purposes, she is providing implicit consent to disclose the personal data to
the e-government application. E-government applications must comply with
the data protection law regarding how they handle this data. The validation
platform removes from its logs any personal data contained in the
verification of the certificate. Privacy principles and rules that e-government
applications have to follow for compliance with privacy legislation are also
set out in the national security framework. Biometric data can only be
requested at controlled points of access and relies on “match-on-card”
technology. The national identity number included in all certificates can be
disclosed to any e-government application. Other personal attributes can
only be disclosed and exchanged between public administrations with user
consent.
The government recognises that citizens use e-government services
when they are appealing and useful to them. For example, the main reason at
the beginning for the uptake of qualified certificates in Spain was to get a
tax refund in a shorter period of time when the citizen was entitled to it
according to the tax declaration. Several initiatives are under way to
promote the use of the national identity card in a secure way: at the issuance
point (police stations), citizens are instructed on how to use the identity card,
a major awareness campaign has been launched in Spanish media, thousands
of card readers have been distributed to citizens, several web sites are
informing citizens on how to use the card.
Challenges
The most challenging aspects of the national strategy are:
• The lack of understanding regarding the possibilities offered by the
electronic identification. Public awareness campaigns and efforts to
increase the usability of the electronic identity card are essential.
• Electronic identity for foreigners. Participation in the European
STORK project will facilitate the recognition of foreign credentials
by Spanish e-government services.
At a more operational level, challenges include:
• The great variety of standards and technical norms, especially for
smart-cards, which makes the integration of eID solutions extremely
challenging.
• User-centric identity frameworks provide technical solutions to help
users easily register with and sign on to web-based services.
However, these frameworks alone cannot solve the human problem
of establishing and maintaining trust. Convergence between user-
centric and established federation standards and the incorporation of
merged functionality into products are needed to bring user-centric
identity management functionality to the mainstream.
• Although there is great demand for the recognition of governmental

electronic identity credentials in commercial applications, the lack
of proper and simple routines that can cover many different
solutions explains why few private sector service providers support
cross-border activities. Although public electronic identity creden-
tials meet many of the private sector needs, business models and
propriety solutions still complicate, or even prevent, development
and common deployment.
• The private sector in some cases lacks the organisational and
technological frameworks for electronic identity services. Instead, it
is willing to use the solutions accepted and supported by the public
sector, and also wants the public sector to handle an infrastructure
that meets its need for flexibility. Public Sector Quality Authenti-
cation Assurance models could play an important role, as long as the
Service Provider can rely on the mapping carried out by each
national organisation.
• Open or closed electronic identity systems are an important issue to
the private sector, not from a security point of view but because of
practical routines. As long as there are practical routines in place,
the private sector could accept the same electronic identity services
as the public sector, but there is a need for a simple and stable
routine to access electronic identity services. These services need to
include entity authentication as well as digital signatures like
signing data by natural persons and legal persons, or representatives
of legal persons.
• Business models are very important to the private sector and should
be subject to further studies in each member country. It is important
to provide flexible solutions in this regard.
Sweden
The Swedish national strategy for IdM is a subset of the e-government

strategy which aims to enhance the productivity and efficiency of public
sector agencies and to boost the development capacity and innovative
potential of society. It does, however, provide an IdM framework for both
public and private bodies. Following a long tradition of identity credentials
being provided by banks, an agreement between the government and a set of
four companies selected through a public procurement process establishes a
framework to encourage the provision of PKI certificates to citizens and of
validation services to government bodies. This framework, which is being
revised, benefits public and private sector IdM. The strategy does not
include single sign-on but all agencies accept electronic credentials from
these selected companies and users are exposed to the same user interface
regardless of the agency requiring identification. The strategy relies on a
centralised registration policy: certificate service providers access the
population register to provide their services.

According to the current approach, a public procurement process
selected four commercial certificate service providers: a bank (Nordea
Bank), a bank consortium (BankID), a telecommunications operator
(TeliaSonera Sweden) which co-operates with a Swedish bank and Steria, an
IT security company. The customers of the first three companies cover most
of the Swedish population. According to the framework agreement between
them and the government, these companies issue digital certificates to users
and provide validation services to public authorities. As individuals are
generally already engaged in a trust relationship with the service providers,
the acceptance level is relatively high. These digital certificates can be used
in public and private sector contexts. Online providers (relying parties) pay
for the verification services and market players cover the cost of the
production of the certificates. This market model was chosen because it was
assumed that competition among providers would reduce costs, that relying
on existing companies would enable fast and cheap deployment to citizens
and that the government would avoid a large upfront investment. 66 There is
no government root Certificate Authority in Sweden.
According to figures available in 2009, approximately 2.5 million users
have a digital certificate in Sweden, almost one million used it to submit
their income tax declaration in 2009 and around 1.5 million public and
private transactions rely on it every month.67 In 2010, one of the selected
services issued by 10 banks, BankID, claimed 75% of the market with more
than 2 million users and over 400 public and private sector services
recognising BankID.68
The IdM Strategy relies on the population register and on the personal
identification number. The register which used to be maintained by the
church since the early 17th century has been maintained by the National Tax
Board since 1991. The personal identity number which includes the date of
birth and birth number is assigned to all registered individuals and started to
be used in 1974 as the key to every public record and many private ones.
Sweden has also a long tradition of identity cards distributed by private
organisations that contains this number.
The strategy supports two types of credentials: a soft token in the form
of a file that individuals can download to their computer and a hard one,
generally a smart card. Both enable authentication and e-signature via two
digital certificates. The soft token is used in almost all transactions. The first
hard token is the “National ID card prepared for e-Legitimation” (NIDEL)
which has been issued by the police since 2005 and has been developed to
enable identification in the context of the Schengen Treaty. It includes a
chip but does not however carry a certificate at this stage. As of October
2009, 290 000 NIDEL cards had been issued. The second hard token is the
card issued by the Tax Authority since June 2009 which can optionally carry
a certificate issued by one of the four providers (Telia) and was developed to
provide an identity document to as many people as possible, including
people above the age of 13 and non-Swedish residents. All providers of soft
and hard tokens follow the same technical specifications. Certificates
include a public key, first and last name, personal identity number, date of
validity of the public key, serial number, name of the issuing company and
signature of the certificate provider.
Other forms of e-authentication are available in e-government applica-
tions such as login/password or two factor authentication (login/password +
SMS message). Each service provider decides on the authentication solution
to offer.
The legal framework supporting this approach includes a law on
qualified electronic signatures which implements the European Directive
1999/93.69 The law recognises advanced and qualified electronic signatures
but only advanced signatures are available to individuals in Sweden. Besides
electronic signatures, the law does not cover digital identity as such which is
legally addressed only in the regularly renewed public procurement
contracts. In 2008, a report from the Swedish Administrative Development
Agency (“Verva”) suggested to establish a new legal framework to regulate
digital identity including functional requirements and the obligation to
comply with European security standards. The framework would be
applicable to public and private sector applications. A new agency would
co-ordinate certificate providers and public sector bodies and act as a
European contact point.
Certificate service providers which issue qualified electronic signatures
must comply with security requirements and are supervised by the Post and
Telecom Agency (PTS) which also maintains an e-signature advisory and
discussion group with representatives from all interested parties. The
Swedish privacy regulator, the Data Inspection Board, oversees the security
of personal data used in IdM systems.
The Strategy underlines the need to use standards. However, inter-

operability between the four providers is provided to the extent that online
services accept all the credentials they offer. When some local and regional
bodies limit access to credentials issued by one or two providers, inter-
operability cannot be guaranteed. The new strategy proposes the imple-
mentation of a federation system whereby different identity providers can
interact to enhance the usage of identities across domains. This will require
additional legislation to be adopted.
Providers of e-services are responsible for informing users about
regarding risks and benefits of their services, including IdM.
The current strategy is being reviewed. The Action plan for e-govern-
ment adopted in June 2008 emphasises electronic identification as essential
for trust and for the dialogue between government, citizens and businesses.
A Delegation for e-government has been established within the Ministry of
Finance with the representatives of 13 key public authorities to develop a
strategy to enhance e-government efforts, to co-ordinate various IT projects,
to examine possible concerns for citizens and companies and to assist in
international questions. A report is expected by 2014. The new strategy will
propose the establishment of a co-ordinating function for e-identification,
electronic signatures and related services. An independent board with
statutory decision making powers and the power to issue regulations would
be set up within the Swedish Tax Agency. The board would supply services
against payment, e.g. e-identification, electronic signatures, seals, etc., to
affiliated government agencies and local government authorities. It would
also provide support for a corresponding development in the business sector.
Solutions here would need to include under-age users and/or those who do
not have a personal identity number. The board would be required to direct
and control the procedures used by issuers of electronic credentials so that,
for example, personal identity numbers are only disclosed to agencies and
other actors entitled to this information. The concept of e-service
identification would no longer require the use of the personal identification
number. Businesses and public bodies would be able to obtain credentials
for their employees and contractors. As noted above, the new framework
would support a federated model.
Challenges
Despite the success of the strategy so far, there are some challenges such as:
− Costs for the relying parties.
− Lack of flexibility of the overall model leading to some
technical problems.
− E-authentication from public computers and from the

workplace.
− Usability.
Turkey
The Turkish Strategy for IdM is based on the promotion of digital
certificates and, in the near future, on the deployment of an electronic identity
card. It includes: i) a centralised civil registration system (MERNIS); ii) a
legal framework for electronic signature; and iii) an e-government gateway
providing single sign-on. Future plans include the migration of the current
paper-based identity card to an electronic identity card enabling secure
electronic authentication for public and private sector services. The Turkish
strategy is based on a centralised registration policy relying on the Turkish
identity number.
National Strategy for IdM

Turkey has a long tradition of civil registration, dating back to the first
census in 1904. Since the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1923,
civil registration has been subject to many changes, the last of which was the
establishment of a central civil registration system called MERNIS in 2000
to increase the speed and efficiency of public services and ensure secure and
up-to-date access to personal information. MERNIS collects in real time
changes made to citizens’ civil status by 966 civil registration offices spread
throughout the country. Its content, more than 130 million personal data
files as of January 2009, is shared with over 2 500 public bodies for
administrative purposes as well as some private sector organisations, subject
to the limitations in the respective access protocols.
Since 2005, over 3 000 public and private bodies no longer need to
request copies of civil records or domicile address certificates from citizens.
They can access this information directly from the Identity Information
Sharing System (KPS) via a virtual private network, whether through web
sites70 or web applications71. Access is subject to the conclusion of a bilateral
agreement with the General Directorate of Civil Registration and Nationality.
The Turkish IdM strategy is also supported by a legal framework for
electronic signature adopted at the beginning of 200472 and put into force in
the middle of the same year which gives the same legal value to e-signatures
generated with qualified electronic certificates as to handwritten signatures.
Providers of qualified electronic certificates are legally liable for ensuring
that the identity of the holder is determined in a reliable and secure manner.
Four certificate service providers operate on the Turkish market and mobile
telecommunications operators introduced mobile e-signatures based on

qualified electronic certificates, a service which is currently used in
electronic banking applications for identity verification. As of June 2010,
approximately 251 000 qualified electronic certificates had been sold,
105 000 of which were used for mobile electronic signatures.73
Since 2008, citizens can access a gateway to e-government services
which provides a single sign-on mechanism and central authentication
mechanisms that government services can rely on. This single sign-on
solution offers authentication based on: i) a combination of identity number
and password; ii) an electronic signature; iii) a mobile signature; and iv) in
the future, the electronic citizenship card (see below).
The Turkish Information Society Strategy 2006-2010 envisages
replacing the current paper-based identity card with an electronic “Republic
of Turkey Identity Card” which will enable secure electronic authentication
for public and private sector services. The card will enable authentication
based on the combination of the Turkish identity number and a password or
on a biometric, depending on the services’ requirements. The pilot project on
electronic identity cards implemented in the Bolu province was completed in
November 2010 and country wide implementation and replacement of the
paper-based identity card is expected to start in late 2011/early 2012, subject
to the relevant decision to be delivered after the evaluation of the outcomes
of the pilot The card will be issued by the General Directorate of Civil
Registration and Nationality. It will contain identity information as well as
fingerprints. It will only be used for identification and authentication. A
Prime Minister Circular sets out the implementation details of the card
project and prohibits public agencies from developing independent
smartcard projects.74
Thus the Turkish IdM strategy encourages both the use of digital
certificates and of the planned electronic identity card for electronic
authentication. Qualified certificates issued by authorised service providers
can be used to access public and private sector electronic services. Public
and private bodies will be able to use the electronic card for controlling
access to their services. The new electronic identity cards issued in the
piloting phase were tested in hospitals, pharmacies and social security
offices in the Bolu province.
The Turkish IdM strategy is based on a centralised registration policy:
since 2000, all citizens are allocated a unique “Turkish Republic Identity
Number” to resolve problems related to homonyms, provide fast and
efficient identification, register all civil events from the moment of birth,
and provide fast and efficient services to users of public services by ensuring
efficient exchange of identity information among public institutions and
agencies. A Prime Minister Circular obliges all public agencies to attach this
number in every relevant document (driver license, passport, forms, etc.)
and to associate their relevant electronic record with this identifier. Public
sector IT systems should use this number to enable electronic data exchange
with the MERNIS database.75

As regards security, the electronic identity card contains a contact chip
for national applications and a contactless chip for ICAO applications with a
national operating system developed by the National Research Institute of
Electronics and Cryptology (UEKAE), an affiliate of the Scientific and
Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) who is responsible
for the execution of the pilot phase of the project. The contactless chip will
not be used for generic identity authentication in daily business processes.
The contact chip, designed by UEKAE, respects a number of international
security standards and has a security level of EAL5+. The card may be read
with standard smartcard readers or more sophisticated devices enabling
fingerprint authentication and database connection to confirm the card
validity. The design for the electronic identity card reader will be published
as a Turkish standard by the Turkish Standards Institute. The security of e-
signature applications complies with international standards as defined in
the Communiqué on Processes and Technical Criteria Regarding Electronic
Signatures.
As regards privacy, personal data in MERNIS is only shared with
relevant public and private sector agencies, subject to the limitations
contained in the respective access protocols. The public body in charge of
the management of the system is liable for protecting the data from
unauthorized access. In the new electronic identity card, biometric data is
only stored in the card (rather than centrally) and technical protections are
preventing retrieval. Qualified certificates do not cover sensitive personal
data. The private key used for e-signature is stored on a smartcard based
signature creation device with an EAL4+ security level.
Interoperability is provided at three levels: i) by the e-government
gateway for e-authentication across all e-government applications; ii) by
international standards and specifications for electronic signatures and
qualified electronic certificates as set by the regulatory authority;76 iii) by
the planned electronic card which public and private sector services will be
able to accept and that citizens will be able to use with the appropriate
readers. The card itself complies with international standards. Standardi-
sation of the card readers for specific functionalities is expected to address
interoperability issues. A Guide for Interoperability which provides guidance
for public administrations with regards to standards and specifications to be

used in their e-government project has been issued in 2005 and revised in
2009.
Challenges
The main challenge is to convince all public agencies to adopt a
common IdM system and policy and to manage and overcome resistance
from agencies to discard their pre-existing IdM systems, replace their
specific identifiers with the Turkish Republic ID number and reject plans for
specific smartcard based authentication tools particularly suited for their
own business.
Another challenge is to convince private service providers that authenti-
cation mechanisms implemented by a public agency are reliable and secure.
The e-government Gateway, for example, has a built-in single sign-on
solution but banks, who provide money transfer services for e-government
services requiring financial transactions, use their own authentication
mechanism and do not trust the Gateway’s single sign-on mechanism.
Establishing a trust environment through authentication mechanisms based
on determined standards and legal clarity regarding liabilities in using these
authentication systems is key.
United States
Following up on its 2009 Cyberspace Policy Review which called for a

“cybersecurity-focused identity management vision and strategy” that
“addresses privacy and civil liberties interests, leveraging privacy-enhancing
technologies for the Nation”, the US government has released a draft
“National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace” in June 2010. The
strategy supports the overarching vision of individuals and organisations
utilising secure, efficient, easy to use and interoperable identity solutions to
access online services in a manner that promotes confidence, privacy, choice
and innovation. Key aspects include the concept of an ecosystem of inter-
operable identity service providers and relying parties (identity ecosystem)
where individuals have the choice of different credentials or a single
credential for different types of online transaction. Guiding principles
include secure, interoperable, privacy friendly, voluntary, usable and cost
efficient identity solutions. The US approach to identity management is
based on a decentralised registration policy and on a federated identity
model. It is at an early stage of development.

President Obama’s 2009 Cyberspace Policy Review called for the
development of “a cybersecurity-focused identity management vision and
strategy” that “addresses privacy and civil liberties interests, leveraging
privacy-enhancing technologies for the Nation” (near term action item 10).
An interagency working group has been established and has had active
engagement with industry during development of the strategy.77 This
process draws on recommendations included in broader reports.78 It is also
undertaken adjacent to related legislative efforts, such as the Data
Accountability and Trust Act, which is currently being discussed at the US
Congress.
On 25 June 2010, the White House released a draft “National Strategy for
Trusted Identities in Cyberspace” and called for public comments. The
strategy focuses on how to establish and maintain trusted digital identities as a
key aspect for improving the security of online transactions. It encompasses
transactions involving the private sector, individuals and governments and it
addresses the international nature of many of these transactions. Thus the draft
strategy, like the review, targets activities of the Nation as a whole, including
both public and private interests and considers the role of the government as to
address the safety and economic needs of its people.
The strategy supports the overarching vision of individuals and
organisations utilising secure, efficient, easy to use and interoperable identity
solutions to access online services in a manner that promotes confidence,
privacy, choice and innovation. It builds upon four guiding principles which
state that identity solutions will be i) secure and resilient; ii) interoperable at
technical, semantic and policy levels; iii) privacy enhancing and voluntary for
the public; and iv) cost-effective and easy to use.
The establishment of a national identification card is explicitly excluded
in the draft strategy in favour of an ecosystem of interoperable identity
service providers and relying parties (identity ecosystem) where individuals
have the choice of different credentials or a single credential for different
types of online transactions. Individuals should have the choice of obtaining
identity credentials from either public or private sector identity providers,
and they should be able to use these credentials for transactions requiring
different levels of assurance across sectors. In the identity ecosystem,
individuals, organisations, services, and devices can trust each other because
authoritative sources establish and authenticate their digital identities.
Several disparate organisations and individuals function together and fulfill
unique roles and responsibilities governed by an overarching set of
standards and rules. Individuals interacting with services that do not require
strong identification and authentication remain anonymous. This approach

relies on a decentralised registration policy where organisations accept third
party credentials from external parties.
To increase ease of use and reduce costs, the strategy supports federated
identity solutions, fosters the elimination of silos that require individuals to
maintain multiple identity credentials and encourages service providers to
perform usability studies. Individuals will benefit from increased security,
privacy, confidence, efficiency, easy to use mechanisms based on existing
infrastructure components (cell phones, smart cards, computers) and choice.
Organisations would benefit from fraud reduction, reusable infrastructure,
lower implementation costs, and the minimisation of help desk and other
burdensome processes. Public and private organisations would also benefit
from increased innovation potential as the identity ecosystem would enable
new higher risk services, including smart grid and health IT deployment.
The draft strategy benefits from high-level leadership (White House). It
sets nine high priority actions such as the designation of a federal agency to
lead the public/private efforts associated with advancing the vision, the
development of a public/private implementation plan, the expansion of
government services, pilots, and policies and further work to implement
enhanced privacy protections.

The development of the strategy is only at a preliminary stage but a
number of implementation policy directions are included in the draft strategy.
Interoperability is an important aspect of the draft strategy but it would
be premature to assert which systems will be interoperable. As a general
principle, interoperability and relationships between government and private
sector systems is encouraged where appropriate; however, it will not be
mandated across the board. As means of an example, the administration’s
Open Government initiative, which requires low correlation between a true
and online identity, has benefitted from private sector interoperability efforts
so that users wouldn’t be required to establish a new identity/password
specifically for this application. The draft strategy encourages non-
proprietary standards and modular solutions to foster flexible, reliable and
reusable systems.
Within the Federal Government, guidance and standards are being
established which will help establish and track specific performance metrics.
The United States also engages in international standards activities such as the
Kantara Initiative, the standardization sector of the International Telecommu-
nication Union (ITU-T), and the International Standardization Organization

(ISO), etc. These standards activities are key enablers for interoperability.
Several existing legislative and regulatory requirements are related to
Federal Government identity management such as:
• The Privacy Act of 1974, which protects certain Federal Govern-
ment records pertaining to individuals. In particular, the Act covers
systems of records that an agency maintains and retrieves by an
individual’s name or other personal identifier (e.g. social security
number).
• E-government Act of 2002, which intends to enhance the manage-
ment and promotion of electronic Government services and pro-
cesses by establishing a Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO)
within the Office of Management and Budget, and by establishing a
broad framework of measures that require using Internet-based
information technology to enhance citizen access to Government
information and services, and for other purposes.
• Electronic Signatures in Global and National (ESIGN) Commerce
Act of 2000, which was intended to facilitate the use of electronic
records and signatures in interstate and foreign commerce by
ensuring the validity and legal effect of contracts entered into
electronically.
There are sector-specific requirements for certain types of sensitive data
(e.g. financial records, medical records, tax records, telephone toll records
(customer proprietary network information – CPNI) With respect to at least
one of these categories (CPNI), there are specific regulations from the
telecommunication regulator (Federal Communications Commission) about
when telephone companies can provide this information and what level of
identity assurance is required to avoid pretexting which had been a problem.
Specific security policies and guidelines for the online IdM strategy
have yet to be determined. Nevertheless, the strategy sets security and
resilience of identity solutions as a guiding principle. Security includes
strong cryptography, use of open security standards and auditable security
processes. Currently, federal IdM systems adhere to strict security policies
which vary significantly by application and by the type of security necessary
for the information involved. Each IdM system is designed individually
depending on its intended purpose, and as a result, the security policies for
each system are often unique. For example, Homeland Security Presidential
Directive (HSPD) 12- requires that all Federal Executive Departments and
Agencies implement a Government-wide standard for secure and reliable
forms of identification for employees and contractors, for access to Federal
facilities and information systems and designates the major milestones for
implementation. The security of the applications involved in HSPD-12
implementation involves not only the physical security of the identification
cards used, but also the general security of the background architecture.
As regards the government related systems, which is a subset of the
strategy’s scope, auditing controls will be designed according to the purpose
of the individual application. The privacy, certification, and accreditation
policies for these applications will be specifically tailored. Regarding
Federal systems, Title III of the E-government Act, entitled the Federal
Information Security Management Act (FISMA)79 requires each federal
agency to develop, document, and implement an agency-wide programme to
provide information security for the information and information systems
that support the operations and assets of the agency, including those
provided or managed by another agency, contractor, or other source.
FISMA requires security certification and accreditation of information
systems to enable more consistent, comparable, and repeatable assessments
of security controls in Federal information systems. These requirements can
be found in NIST SP 800-37.80
Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) are conducted by Federal agencies
to implement the principles established by the E-government Act and the
Privacy Act. The goals inherent in federal PIAs will be adapted to online
IdM, but the exact method has not yet been determined.
The draft strategy emphasises privacy enhancing and voluntary identity
solutions. Identity solutions should preserve the positive privacy benefits of
offline transactions while mitigating some of the negative effects. It calls for
the full integration of the eight Fair Information Practice Principles (i.e.
reflected in the OECD privacy principles) in the identity ecosystem as a key
objective to achieve trusted identities in cyberspace. Examples of privacy
approaches supported by the strategy include the creation and adoption of
privacy enhancing technical standards that allow minimization of the
personal data transmitted and of the linkage of credential use among and
between providers; the communication of individuals’ choices regarding the
use of their data to all subsequent data holders; the limitation of personal
data retention time; the possibility for individuals to access, correct and
delete their data; auditable records regarding privacy protection and
compliance with applicable standards, laws and policies.
Voluntary participation by individuals and organisations is a key
concept whereby the Federal Government will not require organisations to
adopt specific solutions nor require individuals to obtain high assurance
digital credentials if they do not want to engage in high risk online
transactions with the government. The identity ecosystem should encompass
a range of transactions from anonymous to high assurance and allow the

individuals to select the credential he or she deems most appropriate for the
transaction, provided it meets the risk requirement of the relying party. Thus
the US government recognises the concept of proportionality between the
amount of personal information collected and the level of assurance required
in determining the appropriate level of authentication. Currently, the Privacy
Act requires federal agencies to provide an explanation of “what information
is to be collected” and “why”. The Privacy Act only allows collection of
personal information that is “relevant and necessary.” A similar concept is
found in NIST SP 800-63, which is used for Federal systems and is being
utilised by international standards development organisations like the
Kantara Initiative and is the basis of a joint standards project between ISO
and ITU-T.
In Federal systems, high-level privacy notices including statements
about what happens in the event of a data breach are required. Federal PIAs
are also publicly posted on the Internet. The Federal Government is
developing a national cybersecurity awareness campaign that will likely
address identity management issues. How this principle will be adapted to
the broader online IdM sphere has not yet been determined. Currently,
requirements for notification differ by sector and by state. Forty-four states
have breach-notification laws that require entities to notify residents of those
states if any are affected by breaches of personally identifiable information.
The laws vary by state. Some require the breached entity to also inform a
state agency, such as the attorney general’s office, if a breach occurs, which
makes it easier to track breaches. The notification method may also differ
depending on the type of data. This is an area of current research while the
online IdM strategy is being developed.81
Challenges
The most challenging issues for the development of the US national IdM
strategy are i) the identification of an approach that mutually benefits
security and privacy concerns, ii) the collaborative policy development
process required by the federal system of government and the involvement
of the private sector. Other challenges are related to:
• Privacy: the approach must protect privacy and be perceived as
“privacy enhancing” or it will fail; it must be flexible, and enable
anonymity as appropriate; significant amounts of data can be liable
to breach; there is a potential for procedural mistakes, there are legal
differences between federal, state and at cross-border levels.
• Voluntary: the form of voluntary trusted assertion of identity that

allows authentication of identity should be as acceptable and
desirable as a credit card and not be seen as a required “national
identity card” to be carried at all times, because that could be
problematic in the United States.
• Interoperability: the approach must enable interoperability to avoid
unnecessary incompatibility across systems and increased costs.
• Security: All forms of cyber threats have to be considered and the
solution must be risk-based and promote the highest level of
integrity corresponding to the risk, for example using strong
cryptographic algorithms/protocols and no backdoors.
• Scaling: the framework needs to scale to population and minimize
costs.
Appendix II
Contribution from the Internet Technical Advisory Committee

(ITAC)82
Technologies have historically interacted with user identities and their

associated personal data through a centralized approach that can secure the
borders around the access to, and use of, services and data. Expanding this
approach to link multiple centralized systems enables the re-use of user
identity credentials among them, and similarly provides methods for
accessing linked resources and data. The growing use of distributed
solutions and multiple interaction points, however, has further expanded this
approach to enable the use of decentralized identities with access to multiple
repositories of associated personal data.
Supporting this change in focus are emerging solutions such as
OpenID,83 IMI,84 OAuth,85 and UMA.86 Technologies such as these enable
the user to control the release of specific personal data within a given
context. While their details vary, they adhere to privacy-respecting patterns
in which only the minimal amount of data is passed between parties under
the control of the user, in order to satisfy a given transaction. Some of this
work is taking place within well established standards bodies (e.g. OASIS,87
IETF88), while other work is being developed within various open technical
communities (e.g. OpenID Foundation,89 Kantara Initiative90).
In more secure environments, specifically those in which higher levels
of identity assurance are required, controlled use of personal data flow can
be achieved by distributed solutions supporting technologies such as
X.509/PKI,91 SAML92 and XACML.93 While these solutions require more
sophisticated deployments and in some cases closer integration between
parties, they often enable flexible controls that may be necessary within
some regulated environments (e.g. healthcare, banking, etc.). To ensure
technical and regulatory compatibility, many organisations choose to
leverage the defined commonalities by joining an identity management
federation such as InCommon,94 eduroam,95 Janet(UK),96 and STORK.97
In addition to solutions that are specifically related to identity manage-

ment and associated personal data, there is a rich set of technologies that
enhance security and privacy as well as improving overall confidence in the
system. For example, when they are employed as part of a solution,
DNSSEC,98 DKIM,99 and TLS100 significantly increase trust within the system
by providing assurance that distributed servers are communicating with the
intended destination before transferring personal data. Distributed trust
models such as the one put in place by the OIX101 also help to engender trust
between identity providers and relying parties.
Beyond the technical specifications and related solutions, there are
programs focused on addressing regulatory environment that support them.
These include the work funded by the Seventh Framework Programme102
such as PrimeLife103 and SWIFT104. Also of interest is the newly proposed
Privacy Management Reference Model105 at OASIS as well as ongoing
engagement with policymakers within the Privacy and Public Policy Work
Group106 at the Kantara Initiative. Work such as this helps bridge the divide
between technology and the environment in which identity solutions are
deployed.
Appendix III
Questionnaire on national strategies and policies for IDM in

OECD countries
This questionnaire was circulated to OECD delegations between

December 2009 and May 2010.
I. National strategy for IdM
1. Do you have, or are you planning to develop a national strategy for

IdM? If yes, please provide details, as appropriate, including on its
scope107 of coverage on and on the rationale or business case
advanced for IdM (please refer to Section 1.1 of the Primer on the
“Importance and benefits of IdM”). Please highlight any aspects of
the strategy that reflect issues addressed in the OECD
Recommendation on e-authentication108.
2. In your experience, which substantive issues are the most
challenging to address when developing a national IdM strategy?
(please refer to Section 5 of the Primer) Please provide details, as
appropriate.
3. Does your national strategy address electronic identity credentials?
Please provide details, as appropriate.
4. Does (and how does) your national strategy address intersections or
relationships between government and private sector systems? For
example, does it address the use of government issued electronic
identity credentials to access private sector online services and vice
versa? How does your strategy address areas where the private
sector plays a part in the delivery of government services such as
health or welfare, and vice versa? Please provide details, as
appropriate.
5. Does your national strategy encompass single sign-on (i.e. where
users log in once and gain access to all systems without being
prompted to log in again) or single e-authentication approach? If
yes, in what contexts? Please provide details, as appropriate.
II. Policies for the Implementation of your Strategy
Across this section, please provide substantive examples to illustrate your

responses. In addition, please provide details regarding intersections or relationships
between government and private sector IdM systems, where appropriate.
6. In your experience, which challenges are the most difficult to

address in the implementation stages of your national strategy,
including in the case of intersections or relationships between
e-government IdM and the private sector? Please provide details, as
appropriate.
7. How is your national IdM strategy intended to foster innovation?
(e.g. new products, new processes, new types of co-operation, etc.)?
(please refer to. Section 4.1 of the Primer)
Interoperability
8. If your national strategy allows for or encourages interoperable

IdM, how is this aspect implemented? Please provide details, as
appropriate.
9. To what extent do you employ or encourage the use of standards,
norms or good practices for interoperability of IdM systems?
10. Please provide details, as appropriate.
11. Is there legislation or regulatory requirements in place in your
country to support interoperability of IdM systems? (e.g. regarding
levels of assurance for authentication, specific sectoral security
requirements, privacy, national identifiers, e-signature, liability, …).
Security
(Please refer to section 5.3 of the Primer)
12. What is your policy with regards to the security of IdM systems and
how is it enforced?
13. Please provide details, as appropriate, including measures taken to
ensure the robustness of e-government IdM systems.
14. How do you ensure the security of personal data, including

particular measures for sensitive personal data that is utilised in
IDM systems?
15. What role is foreseen for auditing controls to verify that your IdM
systems are working as intended? How do you ensure that the
security of e-government IdM systems is appropriate and fit for
purpose?
Privacy
16. Do you have a policy with regards to the protection of privacy in

relation to IdM systems?
If yes, please provide details, as appropriate.
17. What role is foreseen for privacy impact assessments for IdM
systems? To what extent do privacy impact assessments affect the
architecture, design and choices of IdM systems?
18. Do you have a policy highlighting the need for proportionality

between the amount of personal information collected and the level
of assurance required in determining the appropriate level of
authentication109 (e.g. does your policy encourage the use of
pseudonyms or other means of providing a relative level of
anonymity to individuals)?
If yes, please provide details, as appropriate.
19. What is your policy with regards to identity attributes (e.g. name,
social security number) which can be used for electronic
authentication to e-government systems? Are particular identity
attributes (e.g. national security number, biometrics) protected?
Please provide details, as appropriate
User empowerment
20. How are end users/citizens made aware of the benefits and risks of
using IdM systems?
21. In the instance of an incident (e.g. loss or corruption of identity data

or credential), how are users/citizens informed? Are they made
aware of who is accountable for what?
Notes
1. In addition to the countries included in the survey, Mexico provided some

information regarding its National Identity project initiatied in 2003, under the
leadership of the Ministry of Interior and with the National Population Register
(RENAPO) as the agency in charge of the project. This project aims to develop a
single national identity card supported by a national database of secure
identification and free of duplicates. It will include information on the legal
identity, the existential identity as a record of the individual, and biometrics data
(fingerprints, facial features and iris recognition). Co-ordination is taking place
with agencies and ministries as regards for example the National e-government
strategies, the National Interoperability Framework and the Citizen Portal.
2. The lead agencies are the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Department
of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) for the joint provision of
Business to Government (B2G) and Government to Government (G2G)
authentication services; and the Department of Human Services (DHS) for the
provision of People-to-Government (P2G) authentication services.
3. See www.finance.gov.au/e-government/security-and-
authentication/authentication-framework.html
4. For more details, see DVS Privacy Impact Assessments.
5. myhelp.gv.at
6. The unique 12 digit CRR number is never used directly. Instead, a “SourcePIN”
number is cryptographically derived from the unique CRR number attributed to
each Austrian resident. The link between the sourcePIN number and the individual
is established by an electronic signature from the sourcePIN Register Authority
which is the Austrian Data Protection Commission. However, the law defines 26
government sectors and requires that each of them uses a different identification
number. So government agencies cannot use the SourcePIN identifier directly
either. Instead, they are provided with a sector-specific PIN (ssPin), specific to
each government sector, and cryptographically derived from the SourcePIN
number. Authorities do not have access to ssPINs from other sectors and they do
not know the sourcePIN from which ssPINs can be calculated for other sectors.
The use of 26 ssPIN numbers by the government, one per government sector, and
which cannot be related together, prevents cross-sector identification and tracking
of individuals. In other words, this mechanism is based on a single unique

identifier per individual but uses cryptography to recreate identification silos for
privacy purposes. Finally, the same process can be applied for private use, each
company being treated as a specific additional sector. See IDABC and
http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/servlets/Doc?id=19404 and https://online.tu-
graz.ac.at/tug_online/voe_main2.getvolltext?pDocumentNr=43021
7. www.buergerkarte.at
8. www.digitales.oesterreich.gv.at/site/6469/default.aspx
9. See: egovlabs.gv.at
10. The Federal Chancellery and the Graz University of Technology are partners in
the project consortium. See www.eid-stork.eu
11. Pan-Canadian Strategy for Identity Management and Authentication was
developed in 2007. See: www.cio.gov.bc.ca/idm/idmatf/default.asp. Work has
been carried out since its publication. Canada is preparing a paper as an update to
this strategy which should be ready for consultation early in 2011.
12. The individual strategies of provinces and territories are not yet formally aligned
or integrated with the strategy of the federal government. For example, British
Columbia has BCeID (https://www.bceid.ca/) Ontario has the One-key Service
https://www.iaa.gov.on.ca/iaalogin/IAALogin.jsp Quebec has clicSÉCURE:
www.rrq.gouv.qc.ca/en/services/services_en_ligne/utilisation_securite_services/id
entification/Pages/clicsequr.aspx
13. The federal Privacy Act, see http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/P-
21/index.html?noCookie.
14. Operational Security Standard: Management of Information Technology Security
(www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=12328), Policy on Government Security
(www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=16578&section=text), issued under the
FAA, the Directive on Identity Management (www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-
eng.aspx?id=16577&section=text), Policy of Privacy Protection (www.tbs-
sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=12510&section=text) Policy on Management of
Information Technology (www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=12755)
15. www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=12450&section=text
16. www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=16577&section=text
17. The Directive on Social Insurance Number, see www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-
eng.aspx?id=13342&section=text#cha5
18. www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/maf-crg/index-eng.asp
19. www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/atip-aiprp/in-ai/in-ai2007/breach-atteint-eng.asp
20. The current card includes the following information: name, date of birth, gender,
signature and fingerprint.
21. NCh 2777, by the National Normalization Institute
22. eID interoperability for PEGS : Update of Country Profile Study. Danish country
profile. August 2009, p. 9.
23. my page at ww.borger.dk
24. 1 592 756 digital certificates (1 318 895 personal certificates, 265 061 employee
certificates in 90 000 enterprises/government organisations, 6 533 enterprise
certificates, 2 267 function certificates
25. www.epractice.eu/en/cases/easylogin
26. See www.arpt.dz/Docs/3Actualite/Communication/8-
9_12_2009/Communications/Session2/S2P1eng.pdf
27. www.epractice.eu/en/cases/easylogin
28. www.open-standaarden.nl/fileadmin/os/presentaties/Kop08_pres_HippeBrun.pdf
29. NemID is based on a national standard based on ETSI (European
Telecommunications Standards Institute) standards. NemLog-In is based on SAML.
30. https://www.signatursekretariatet.dk/certifikatpolitikker.html
31. http://en.itst.dk/it-security/netsafe-now-campaigns
32. https://login.sikker-adgang.dk/fobslogin/visvilkaar.do
33. Most of the information provided in this section reflects the IDABC country
profile, referred to as a key resource in the German response to the questionnaire.
34. Many elements have been taken from the IDABC Italy country profile, in addition
to the response provided by Italy.
35. Legislative Decree 235/2010, published in the Italian Official Journal of 10
January 2011.
36. In addition, 3.7 million use digital signature. See “Rapporto eGov Italia 2010” –
chapter 1” -
www.innovazionepa.gov.it/comunicazione/notizie/2010/dicembre/20122010-
brunetta-rapporto-e-gov2010.aspx
37. See www.apkic.org/WebSite/PKI2007/UpFile/File28.ppt
38. “Understanding Korea’s Identity Verification System”, Byeong Gi Lee,
Commissioner, Korea Communications Commission, December 2009,
http://121.254.145.213/gisa_down.php?pfile=%2Fdata1%2Fftp%2Fgisa_downlo
ad%2F20091206_%C2%FC%B0%ED%C0%DA%B7%E1_Identity+Verification
+System+2009.12.+BGL.doc
39. In practice, two steps need to be considered:

Creation of the i-PIN identity: the first time a user wants to use the i-Pin system,
she has to create an i-Pin identity through one of the four i-Pin providers which
are operating on the market as semi-public companies. The process requires a two
factor-authentication mechanism where i) the user provides her name and RRN,
which are checked against the RRN registrar by the i-Pin provider and ii) the user
validates one’s real identity by providing one of these: a secret number sent to
oneself via an SMS message, credit card information and its PIN number and a
PKI authentication. At the end of the process, the user is provided with a unique i-
Pin identity of her choice (like a pseudonym) associated to a password. This i-Pin
identity can then be used on Web sites to provide a high level of assurance
regarding the identity of the person without requiring the provision of the RRN.
Use of the i-PIN identity: when the user wants to create an account on a Web site,
she first provides her i-Pin identity and password. The web site checks the i-Pin
identity with the i-Pin provider. The i-Pin provider returns either i) a negative
response if the i-Pin identity does not exists, does not match the password or has
been revoked, ii) the name, gender and age of the user if the i-Pin credentials are
valid. In the latter case, the user is invited to create an account on the Web site
with a username and password dedicated to the site.
Unlike the direct use of the RRN, if the i-Pin identity is compromised, the user can
request its revocation and the issuance of a new one.
40. See “Which LuxTrust product do I need for a particular application?”.
https://www.luxtrust.lu/solutions/choix/choix?setLocale=EN
41. Institut Luxembourgeois de la normalisation, de l’accréditation, de la sécurité et
qualité des produits et services, ILNAS
42. See “eID Interoperability for PEGS: Update of Country Profiles study The
Netherlands country profile - July 2009”, IDABC, European eGovernment
Services, http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/servlets/Doc?id=32286.
43. National Implementation Programme Service Delivery and eGovernment.
44. About the register, see: “The personal records database: for the authorities and for
you”, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations,
www.bprbzk.nl/dsresource?objectid=19176&type=org. About the Citizen
Number, see “Burgerservicenummer - Frequently Asked Questions”,
www.burgerservicenummer.nl/veelgestelde_vragen/english_faq.
45. See IDABC and
www.eoverheidvoorbedrijven.nl/afsprakenstelseleherkenning/english/english.html.
46. DigiD, presentation by Gerrit Jan van’t Eind at the 19th meeting of the OECD
Working Party on Information Security and Privacy (WPISP) on 4 October 2005.
47. IDABC, p. 7.
48. For a list: www.digid.nl/burger/over-digid/wie-doen-mee/
49. www.digid.nl/english
50. Many of the principles underpinning the IAF reflect those in the OECD Guidance
for Electronic Authentication, including ensuring security, privacy and usability,
and managing risk.
51 . Individuals can also use choose to use several igovt logons for several services
because these logons are pseudonymous. If they choose to have only one igovt
logon, it can be used with all participating agencies, among which there will be
some agencies that link the logon with an enduring “account” or customer record
for the purposes of doing business with just that agency. There is currently no “all-
of-government” account.
52. It is also granted to Brazilian citizens covered by the Treaty of Porto Seguro.
53. More than 10 000 companies have been created using this system, saving more
than EUR 20 million.
54. Respectively www.partalempresa.pt, www.automovelonline.mj.pt and
https://queixaselectroncias.mai.gov.pt.
55. www.portaldocidadao.pt
56. For example www.riac.azores.gov.pt
57. E.g. the Instituto Superior Téchnico https://id.ist.utl.pt
58. See https://www.eid-stork.eu/
59. Tax Procedure Act. Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 117/06 in
24/08-ZDDKIS.
60. Additional information stored in chip include : filiation details, face picture, image
of the handwritten signature, digital fingerprint, advanced certificates for
authentication and for signature, certificate of the issuing authority and PIN code
for each certificate.
61. Ley 59/2003
62. Ley 11/2007. See also the Royal Decree RD 1671/2009.
63. For a list of private sector services, see
www.dnielectronico.es/servicios_disponibles/serv_disp_priv.html.
64. See IDABC country report.
65. This approach would change if it was decided to create a central European
validation authority in charge of cross-border validaiton services or if other EU
member states would establish a national validation authority to which it would be
necessary to make request and referral cross-border validation. Regarding the

Trusted List of Certification Service Providers, see http://ec.europa.eu/
information_society/policy/esignature/eu_legislation/trusted_lists/index_en.htm.
66. Åke Grönlund, 2010.
67. See IDABC Sweden Country Profile, 2009.
68. “This is BankID”. See also: “BankID in Sweden”, Porvoo Meeting, 10 March
2008.
69. Law 2000 :832
70. Retrieve personal information using the Identity Number, the Identity Number
using personal information, identity information based on information of the place
of registration, copy of civil status records using various criteria.
71. The Identity Information Sharing System, 12 February 2009.
72. Official Gazette of 23 January 2004, entry into force on 23 July 2004.
73 . Information provided by the Turkish Delegation.
74. Prime Minister Circular 2007/16, 04 July 2007.
75. Prime Minister Circular No 2006/33, 21 October 2006.
76. www.tk.gov.tr/eng/pdf/Communique_on_Electronic_Signature.pdf.
77. Additional identity management efforts in areas such as screening, federal
employee credentialing, healthcare, etc., are also underway but are beyond the
scope of this survey’s focus.
78. Such as the “Identity Management Task Force Report 2008” by the National
Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and the National Security Telecom-
munications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) Report to the President on Identity
Management Strategy.
79. http://csrc.nist.gov/drivers/documents/FISMA-final.pdf
80. http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-37/SP800-37-final.pdf
81. In November 2010, the United States Senate Judiciary Committee approved S.139
(Data Breach Notification Act) which would require entities engaged in interstate
commerce to notify victims whose personal information is compromised in a
breach — unless disclosure would harm national security or in some way hinder a
law-enforcement investigation. Breached entities would have to notify the Secret
Service if more than 10 000 individuals are affected by the breach, or if the
breached database contains information on more than one million people, is a
Federal Government database or is involved national security. This bill will now
face a vote in the full Senate. S.1490 (Personal Data Privacy and Security Act),
contains similar provisions and has been sent to the Judiciary Committee.
HR.2221 (Data Accountability and Trust Act), which has passed the House of
Representatives, also contains breach notification provisions.
82. www.internetac.org.
83. OpenID (www.openid.net/)
84. IMI – Identity Metasystem Interoperability (www.oasis-open.org/committees/imi/)
85. OAuth (https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/oauth/charter/)
86. UMA – User-Managed Access
(http://kantarainitiative.org/confluence/display/uma/Home)
87. OASIS – Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards
(www.oasis-open.org/)
88. IETF – Internet Engineering Task Force (www.ietf.org/)
89. OpenID Foundation (http://openid.net/foundation)
90. Kantara Initiative (http://kantarainitiative.org/)
91. X.509/PKI - ITU-T Recommendation X.509 (2005) | ISO/IEC 9594-8:2005
92. SAML – Security Assertion Markup Language (www.oasis-
open.org/committees/security/)
93. XACML – eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (www.oasis-
open.org/committees/xacml/)
94. InCommon Federation (www.incommon.org/)
95. eduroam – Education Roaming (www.eduroam.org/)
96. Janet(UK) – UK Education and Research Network (www.ja.net/)
97. STORK – Secure Identity Across Borders Linked (www.eid-stork.eu/)
98. DNSSEC – DNS Security Extensions (www.dnssec.net/)
99. DKIM – RFC 4871 DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) Signatures
(http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc5672/)
100. TLS – Transport Layer Security (http://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/tls/charter/)
101. OIX – Open Identity Exchange (http://openidentityexchange.org/)
102. Seventh Framework Programme (http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html)
103. PrimeLife (www.primelife.eu/)
104. SWIFT (www.ist-swift.org/)
105. PMRM – Privacy Management Reference Model (in process of formation at
OASIS)
106. P3WG – Privacy and Public Policy Work Group

(http://kantarainitiative.org/confluence/display/p3wg/Home)
107. E.g. public/private sector, e-government, e-commerce, sector-based strategy, etc.
108. See www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/45/38921342.pdf.
109. In addition to the Primer, section 5.4 second bullet, please refer to OECD
Guidance for Electronic Authentication, Part A, principle 5 (page 23 of
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/45/38921342.pdf).
142 – ANNEX 2: THE ROLE OF DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT IN THE INTERNET ECONOMY
Annex 2
The role of digital identity management in the Internet

economy: A primer for policy makers
This primer aims to provide policy makers a broad-brush understanding of

the various dimensions of digital identity management (IdM). Consistent with
the Seoul Ministerial Declaration, it also aims to support efforts to address
public policy issues for securely managing and protecting digital identities,
with a view to strengthening confidence in the online activities crucial to the
growth of the Internet Economy.
The primer is a product of the Working Party on Information Security and
Privacy. It is part of a broader work programme on IdM that began with a
workshop held in Trondheim, Norway in May 2007 (www.oecd.org/sti/
security-privacy/idm). It was prepared by a volunteer group of experts led by
Katarina de Brisis of Norway, with additional assistance from Nick
Mansfield, consultant to the Secretariat, and Mary Rundle, who provided
assistance in her capacity as a Research Associate with the Oxford Internet
Institute through a project funded by the Lynde and Harry Bradley
Foundation.
This report was declassified by the Committee for Information, Computer
and Communications Policy on 5 June 2009. It is published under the
responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD and is available online
at www.oecd.org/sti/security-privacy.
© OECD 2009
ANNEX 2: THE ROLE OF DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT IN THE INTERNET ECONOMY – 143
“WE DECLARE that, to contribute to the development of the Internet Economy,

we will . . . strengthen confidence and security, through policies that . . .
ensure the protection of digital identities”
1
OECD Ministerial Declaration (Seoul, June 2008)
1. Introduction
National and global economic, governmental and social activities rely

more and more on the Internet.2 Digital identity management (“IdM”) is a
critical component of those activities. Today, organisations in both the
public and private sectors differ significantly in their approaches to IdM,
devising their own means for establishing, verifying, storing and using
digital identities over their networks and the Internet. The lack of common
policies and approaches creates privacy, security and productivity issues in
our increasingly interconnected economies, and hampers the ability of
organisations to provide users with convenient services.
This Primer is intended to give policy makers a broad-brush
understanding of the various dimensions of IdM. It introduces, in non-
technical terms, the basic concepts and issues raised by IdM and points to
additional sources where policy makers may gain a deeper understanding of
the topic. Consistent with the Seoul Ministerial Declaration, it aims to
support efforts to address the public policy issues for securely managing and
protecting digital identities with a view to strengthening confidence in
online activities crucial to the growth of the Internet economy.
There is a wide spectrum of uses for which IdM is needed and contexts
to which IdM schemes can be tailored. For example, IdM can be used within
and across applications, systems and borders. This complexity is one of the
main challenges to be addressed. Whether an IdM system is limited or
expansive, another major challenge for its effective implementation is the
creation of trustworthy environments, through good security and privacy
policies and practices, user-friendly interfaces, and attention to user
education and awareness.
For the purposes of this Primer, “IdM” is the set of rules, procedures
and technical components that implement an organisation’s policy related to
the establishment, use and exchange of digital identity information for the
purpose of accessing services or resources. Effective IdM policies safeguard
digital identity information throughout its life cycle – from enrolment to
revocation – while maximising the potential benefits of its use, including
across domains to deliver joined-up services over the Internet.
The scope of the Primer is limited to the management of the digital

identities of individuals, or natural persons. While issues related to the
management of online identities for entities or objects are growing in
importance,3 they are beyond the scope of this document. On the other hand,
the range of activities covered is intended to be wide, touching on the use of
IdM for government, commercial, and social applications.
OECD consideration of IdM builds on prior work in a number of areas.4
One is e-authentication, an essential component in the verification and
management of identities online.5 Other key building blocks are OECD
work on privacy and information security.6 The 1980 Privacy Guidelines
continue to serve as an international benchmark, providing guidance on the
handling of personal information in the private and public sectors, and the
OECD’s Information and Network Security Guidelines (2002) call for
governments, businesses and individuals to factor security into the design
and use of all information systems and networks and provide guidance on
how to do so. Finally, consideration of IdM benefits from recent OECD
work on the impact of identity theft on individuals.7
1.1 The importance and benefits of IdM

Online transactions – and many other types of online interactions –
have become mainstream activities in OECD countries. By 2007, 95% of
medium and large-size businesses in OECD countries were using the
Internet, with some 25% of individuals buying goods and services on line,
and 30% using Internet banking services. E-government is also on the rise,
with, on average, 30% of citizens in OECD countries using the Internet to
interact with public authorities.8 Trustworthy IdM can only support
continued online growth if it is more deeply and efficiently integrated into
Internet activities.
IdM could be an enabler for e-government, e-commerce, and social
interactions. The potential benefits of a well thought-out approach to IdM
are many, including:
• Better use of resources. IdM could help in optimising processes that
are duplicated across organisations and in reducing the complexity
of integrating business applications, thus enabling organisations to
sharpen their focus on the provision and quality of core services.
• Overcoming barriers to growth and fostering innovation. By
helping organisations secure and control the sharing of identity
information with partners and customers, IdM could spur collabora-
tion, competition and increased user choice.
• Facilitating global services. For individuals and organisations with

activities in multiple jurisdictions, IdM could improve online
accessibility to private and public services across borders and
simplify administrative formalities.
• Improving user convenience. When used across organisations,
effective IdM could reduce the inconveniences and inefficiencies
caused by the need to keep track of multiple accounts, passwords
and authentication requirements. Likewise, more consistent user-
interfaces for registration and log-in processes can improve
usability, and consequently increase the use of online services.
• Enhancing security and privacy. Security and privacy are both
increased by minimising the flows of data during transactions, only
requesting, transferring, and storing what is required. Effective IdM
can minimise the transactional data required for users of multiple
systems and thereby decrease security and privacy risks.
1.2 The need for governments to be proactive

The report that accompanies the Seoul Ministerial Declaration on the
Future of the Internet Economy highlights the relationship between trust-
worthy user identities and sustainable growth of the Internet economy. It
also emphasises the importance of addressing public policy issues raised by
IdM, many of which are linked to trust.9
Trust is a cornerstone of electronic government, electronic commerce,
and social interactions on line. With improved trust amongst participants,
electronic delivery of government and business services can accelerate and
higher levels of confidence can be achieved. This confidence can in turn
encourage innovation in the online marketplace and create new ways of
doing business. It can also encourage social interactions and the exchange of
ideas between organisations and individuals, confident in the identities of
those with whom they are dealing.
Without trust, individuals may develop a sense of vulnerability and
insecurity regarding their online activities. In the absence of sound IdM
policies and practices, there is a risk of identity information being released
into the digital environment, facilitating the tracking of individuals’
movements on the Internet or creating opportunities for identity theft. Some
of this risk can be addressed through appropriate governance rules and
procedures. Accordingly, governments may need to help ensure an appro-
priate policy environment for the protection of individuals and their digital
identities.
As a key factor in increasing trust in online activities, IdM is also a key

factor in fostering the growth of the Internet economy. Given the current
state of the global economy, the need to maximise the potential of the
Internet economy assumes added significance.
2. Core concepts and processes
This section explains some of the key concepts and outlines some of the
basic IdM processes. The range of conceptions of identity is very broad. The
examination of the following concepts is for the purposes of this Primer only
and recognises that they may be used differently in other contexts.
2.1 Identity, attributes, and credentials

The core issues at stake revolve around the term “identity”, a real world
concept with digital manifestations. Off line, an identity is established from
an extensive set of “attributes” (e.g., name, height, birth date, employer,
home address, passport number) associated with an individual. These
attributes may be permanent or temporary, inherited, acquired, or assigned.
In the digital world, on line, an individual identity can be established by
combining both real world and digital attributes such as passwords or
biometrics.
Selected attributes are used to establish an identity – off line or on line –
and can be said to uniquely characterise an individual within a system or
organisation although they may differ in character and number depending on
the context. This context-specific notion of identity is sometimes referred to
as “partial” identity.
To engage in online interactions that require some measure of electronic
assurance that a person is who they claim to be, a person can be required to
present a “credential”: data that is used to authenticate the claimed digital
identity or attributes of a person.10 Examples of digital credentials include:
an electronic signature, a password, a verified bank card number, a digital
certificate, or a biometric template.
2.2 Enrolment and the issuance of credentials

While the technical aspects of IdM are complex, the basic processes can
be described simply. They begin with enrolment, the process by which
organisations verify an individual’s identity claims before issuing digital
credentials. These credentials can subsequently be used by the individual for
authentication in the organisations’ computer applications. Enrolment may
require, depending on the applications and their policies, no personal
information, little personal information or detailed personal information
(e.g. from name, address, date of birth to credit reference to social security
number). For certain applications, the enrolment process may require other
types of personal data, including the capture of one or more types of
biometric data.
The verification requirements for enrolment can be fulfilled entirely on
line or include an offline component, for example, mailing a verification
code to the individual’s residence. More stringent enrolment processes may
require the presentation in person of physical credentials issued to the
person by other entities. These may include government-issued credentials
(e.g. passports, identity cards and drivers licenses) and/or credentials issued
by private sector entities (e.g. employee badges, mobile wireless SIM cards,
and credit cards). Government institutions such as motor vehicle depart-
ments and post offices sometimes accomplish identity verification through
this type of “in-person” proofing.” In addition, in-person proofing is
common among banks, schools, and employers in their enrolment processes.
The enrolment process is completed with the issuance by the organi-
sation of a digital credential. Credentials may be modified or suspended for
various reasons, for example, to extend or restrict their duration or reflect a
change in relevant attributes.
2.3 Authentication, authorisation process, and revocation

When an individual seeks access to an organisation’s systems, he or she
“authenticates” him or herself by providing the credential issued during the
enrolment process. The authentication process provides a level of assurance
as to whether the other party is who they claim to be. The level of assurance
and associated authentication credentials required depends on the level of
risk inherent in the transaction or interaction.
“Authorisation” refers to the process of assigning permissions and
privileges to access a set of the organisation’s resources or services.
Different permissions can be associated with different digital identities.
“Revocation” is the process of rescinding a credential which might occur,
for example, when the individual leaves the organisation.
2.4 Biometrics
Biometrics are measurable biological and behavioural characteristics
and can be used for strong online authentication. A number of types of bio-
metrics can be digitised and used for automated recognition. Subject to
technical, legal and other considerations, biometrics that might be suitable
for IdM use include fingerprinting, facial recognition, voice recognition,
finger and palm veins.
Biometrics can help reduce identity data duplication and ensure that an
individual appears only once in any IdM database. Since biometrics do not
depend on the possession of a physical object or the memorisation of a
password, they may offer a potentially attractive option to strongly
authenticate the identity of persons who have been enrolled in IdM systems
designed to use them.
Some types of biometrics may be vulnerable to being copied (e.g.
fingerprints) or otherwise subject to errors having consequences for
individuals. These risks may be reduced by advances in technology. For
maximum authentication strength, biometrics may be used in conjunction
with other credentials, including additional types of biometrics (“multiple
biometrics”).
Because of their sensitivity, more frequent use of biometric data for
online authentication would require careful balancing of the rights of
individuals, interests of organisations and responsibilities of law
enforcement agencies. For individuals, a higher degree of control could
result from limiting the use of biometrics to those that remain under the
local control of the individual (e.g. securely stored in an encrypted format on
a device over which the person maintains control).
3. Examples of IDM usage
This section provides a few examples of current and anticipated uses of

IdM in online applications.
3.1 Governmental uses of IdM

IdM can help governments provide citizens, including those who are
home-bound, remotely-located or otherwise difficult to reach, with online
access to their services. The importance of IdM grows as services increase
in range and level of sophistication, particularly as more governments offer
“joined-up” or integrated services within or between government organisa-
tions. Increasingly, risk management becomes crucial to the delivery of online
government services as organisations strive to improve usability while
addressing privacy and security.
Healthcare
IdM-enabled electronic health records can assist patient care by
providing timely access to patients’ medical and treatment history and
connecting records held in multiple locations. Developments such as tele-
medicine can help provide medical care in remote areas but depend on
accurately and securely linking patients and their medical information. The
range of organisations with a legitimate need to access relevant health

information is broad, and may include medical practitioners, hospitals,
laboratories, pharmacies, government and private health and insurance
companies, employers, schools, and researchers. The sensitivity of health-
related information highlights the importance of data minimisation and more
broadly the need for security and privacy in this area.
Education
IdM also opens up opportunities in the area of education. The distributed
nature of education and research means that resources are commonly
scattered across different institutions around the world. Distance education
and collaborative e-learning may require the establishment of authenticated
relationships between students, institutions, and sometimes parents and
guardians. IdM can help to address the problem of managing identities
throughout a person’s educational life-cycle, as well as multiple interactions
with both educational systems and educational officers, within and across
establishments.
Government employee identification

Efforts are underway in many countries to develop common standards
for secure and reliable forms of identification for government employees.
The benefits of these efforts could be interoperable identity cards which
could permit access to government facilities and IT resources beyond the
agency that issued the cards, through IdM systems that offer enhanced
security, efficiency, reduced identity fraud, and the protection of personal
privacy.
Identity cards and travel documents

Governments increasingly deliver national identity cards and passports
containing embedded electronic data, often including biometrics, that have
the potential to be used for public and private sector digital interactions. For
example, a number of countries have or are considering implementing
voluntary or mandatory national e-ID card programmes that enable
cardholders to authenticate themselves to e-government services and digitally
sign documents online using digital credentials stored on the cards. Some
governments may also offer businesses and private organisations identity
verification services (from age verification to proof of the absence of a
criminal record). Electronic identity cards and e-passports can ease verifi-
cation and authentication processing, but also require careful balancing of
the benefits against factors such as security, privacy, costs, and customer
experience.
3.2 Commercial uses of IdM

IdM can assist organisations in providing online access to existing
services and in offering additional services. It can help businesses to build
online customer relationships, to improve and customise the goods and
services they offer and to target those services more effectively. Much of the
potential of IdM for commercial applications lies in the possibilities to
expand IdM beyond a single organisation or application and to do so while
maintaining or improving the levels of convenience, security and privacy.
Travel industry
Some of the more innovative examples of IdM have emerged from the
travel industry. For example, service providers can use information
contained in flight reservations to offer hotel or rental car bookings by third
parties. This reduces password administration for travel agencies and
travellers. With alliances and protocols in place, airlines can also offer
travellers single sign-on access to multiple providers and common use of
passenger profile information, such as seat preferences.
Communications services
In the area of communications, a shift is occurring from number-based
connections to person-based connections, with a different type of IdM
framework required to manage these communications. From a communica-
tions provider’s viewpoint it is necessary to develop service architectures
that enable users to be provided with services over different platforms
(Internet and mobile platforms, for example) and to provide a basis for users
to access their chosen applications over multiple platforms in ways that are
customised to their own preferences.
Electronic payments
Perhaps the most successful use of IdM in the commercial sector today
is in the area of electronic payments for e-commerce transactions. Payment
cards offered by financial services organisations and other online payment
systems facilitate the exchange of funds. Through proprietary networks, a
number of parties work together to make this possible (e.g. merchants, card
networks, third party processors), exchanging information relating to
consumers’ payment card accounts.
3.3 Social uses of IdM

IdM used for online social purposes differs from other uses because of
the widespread use of pseudonyms. Individuals can use multiple pseudo-
nyms to participate in different activities such as checking news feeds,
publishing blog posts, managing social networks and swapping photographs
or music online. IdM can help provide individuals with more choices about
how they participate in different communities, and the degree to which they
want aspects of their different identities to be linked. Of course, the fact that
two services allow for shared authentication does not necessarily mean that
they will or should be allowed to exchange other kinds of user data.
Social networks
A number of social networking sites are currently exploring options for
sharing authentication information and in some cases user data, such as
“friend” lists and profile information. This could make it easier for
individuals to bring aspects of their social networking profiles to their activi-
ties at affiliated sites and in turn to have information about those activities
exported back to their social networks. Ensuring the individual’s privacy
preferences are exchanged between organisations along with the personal
data is important, along with sufficient transparency and accountability to
facilitate effective user control.
4. Technical and organisational aspects
Operating beneath the organisational objectives and policy choices are

the technical IdM layers: the architectural (or functional or conceptual) layer
and technical (or implementation or operational) layer. Current discussions
about IdM in commercial environments often refer to a wide spectrum of
different architectural and technical models, from a centralised IdM within a
single domain (silo model) to multiple IdM systems distributed across
multiple domains. These discussions can become confused when archi-
tecture and technology are mixed.
Directory systems usually provide the means by which identities are
managed. In the paper-based world, directories connect people and
organisations. In the early development of information technology, the use
of directories was expanded to include the managing of digital credentials
for users to log on to an online system. These uses form part of the evolution
towards what we consider today to be IdM systems.
The earliest directories were known as technical control systems and
provided centralised administration over a single domain network. The
technical term “domain” has evolved from simply describing a single
network with a centralised technical controller into a much broader term to

describe a bounded environment − whether legal, geographic or technical −
within which there are commonalities such as the same rules, policies, and
technical consistency. Early individual domains became described as “silos”
because of the independent (and often unique) way in which they operated.
The desire to join-up silo-based systems inspired the move to develop cross-
domain IdM systems. A number of technical models are described in
Appendix I. These can be viewed from both the service provider and user
points of view. Typically, efficiency, trust and cost drive the choice of
architecture, while the choice of technology is often driven by its ability to
fulfil the functional requirements of the architecture, such as inter-
operability.
The need to balance efficiency and trust across silo services is such that
no single architecture is likely to fit all situations. However, where the goal
is to join-up as many services as possible across multiple networks with a
single user identity management interface, then the number and diversity of
architectures that can be adopted will naturally be limited. Similarly this, in
turn, will limit the choice of technologies that can be used to implement the
architecture.
From the user perspective, the identity management system interface
must be trustworthy, and an important factor for user trust is related to the
privacy governance model. Appendix I includes trusted service provider-
centric as well as trusted user-centric models. Usually a risk assessment will
be undertaken to identify how to establish mutual trust between service
providers and users. This may include trusted third parties acting between
users and service providers.
Technical models help channel the flows of data in ways that serve users
and organisations. But they essentially help operate and enforce the
organisation’s IdM policy, in compliance with law and regulation.
Innovation, interoperability, and standardisation also play a role in the
development of IdM.
4.1 Innovation
Innovative technology developments ultimately have to be tied back to
actual uses in order to bring a return on investment. Recent experience in
IdM has shown that, although ideas may have sufficient merit to be
developed into products, the investments are unlikely to pay off unless
embraced by a critical mass of participants in the Internet economy. The
promise of the technologies depends not just on their development, but also
on actual uptake in the context of different value transactions. For
commercial IdM systems, one challenge is that consumers do not seem to be

willing to pay for IdM services.
The deployment of IdM with a view to enabling the use of identity
information across systems, organisations, and borders, is waiting to reach a
tipping point, where the dynamics change and compound growth takes over.
This would cause the use and value of IdM systems to increase
exponentially as more and more people use them, in turn making it likely
that other users are equipped and familiar with the technologies.
Monitoring the impact of government-issued electronic identities in
countries that are moving in that direction may provide useful insights.
Government activities that may help spur the development of IdM could
include for example, serving as an identity provider or mandating certain
sub-sectors of the economy (e.g. healthcare, education) to use certain
technologies in providing services. Clarification of accountability, liability
and privacy issues may also be an enabler for innovation.
Another key factor influencing innovation is interoperability. Although
some innovators may seek to corner their market in a proprietary manner,
others may see greater possible benefits in adopting open standards if there
is potential to reach all individuals rather than just a subset. For effective
IdM, a key challenge is to create a shared infrastructure that facilitates
interoperability between different IdM systems, their components,
information and interconnection flows, and data exchanges. Specifically,
common standards should enable components to support major protocols,
claim types and token types, and to communicate their policies in a shared
language. Meanwhile, the user experiences should be consistent throughout,
independent of the underlying architectures and technologies.
Ultimately, the real benefits to innovation that could be brought by
interoperability come from the services that interoperable IdM supports
rather than from novel approaches to IdM itself.
4.2 The role of standards

Standards – thought of in the broadest sense of a common way or
approach to doing things− reflect a consolidation of the requirements of
suppliers, users, relying parties and law makers for co-ordinated
implementation of IdM. When standards development is market-driven and
consensus-based, they are most likely to be adopted. They can serve both to
reduce complexity and enable interoperability.
International IdM standards

Formal standards produced by international organisations can have a
stabilising function globally. Currently, a number of international organisa-
tions produce formal standards and guidelines relating to IdM, including the
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU), and International Civil Aviation Organi-
sation (ICAO).
ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 157 countries
which bridges the public and private sectors. The primary ISO voluntary
standard focused on IdM is the Framework for Identity Management.
However, various other standards are also relevant. 11
Within the United Nations family, the ITU is the agency primarily
responsible for co-ordinating international telecommunication. It has a
number of groups working on telecommunication-related aspects of IdM in
its Telecommunications Sector. Study Group 17, which is responsible for
network security standards, has produced two recommendations, one on
requirements for global identity management trust and interoperability and
another on user control of digital identity.
ITU Study Group 13, which deals with Next Generation Networks,
approved a recommendation on an NGN identity management framework in
January 2009 with a number of others pending. A number of joint co–
ordination mechanisms have been formed to co–ordinate the IdM work
within the ITU and between the ITU and other organisations. In addition,
the ITU Development Sector, which promotes capacity-building in the
developing world, is preparing a best practices report on cybersecurity,
which includes a basic discussion of IdM.
The ICAO, also within the United Nations family, has adopted standard
specifications for machine readable travel documents to facilitate inter-
national travel. In particular, ICAO work to address biometrics in passports
may be of interest in relation to enrolment and authentication in IdM
systems.12
Other IdM standards bodies

There are a number of influential private-sector standards bodies in the
area of IdM. These groups can comprise representatives from ICT companies,
banking and credit card industries, consumer organisations, and government.
They come together to devise IdM systems and projects that work across
different networks, service platforms, and services. For example, Liberty
Alliance is a global alliance of over 150 diverse organisations representing
government, software and hardware companies, finance system integrators,
consumer services and end-user companies. Similarly, the Organization for

the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) consortium
is the leading producer of standards for Web services (enabling machine-to-
machine interactions), among other standards.
5. Public policy considerations
One of the main public policy goals for governments is working with all
stakeholders to create favourable conditions for the development of IdM to
benefit users. Given the broad spectrum of IdM applications – which can
combine different identity attributes, apply different standards and technical
processes, and provide different levels of assurance – the challenge for
policymakers is to make available sufficient high-level guidance on user
empowerment, security, the protection of privacy, and interoperability as
they apply to IdM.
5.1 Interoperability issues

Public policy issues related to interoperability can arise at different
levels: policy, legal, business process and technical:
• Policy implemented at organisational level: The challenge for
organisations will be for each of them to articulate a clear set of IdM
policies containing a common set of elements at high level to enable
comparison of those policies across organisations, highlight areas of
compatibility and facilitate policy interoperability.
• Legal level: Compatibility of regulatory compliance obligations
across organisations will facilitate legal interoperability. From an
international policy perspective, a key challenge is to minimise
regulatory complexity and turn regulatory obligations into an
enabler rather than a barrier to interoperability across borders. Issues
may also need to be addressed regarding the role of contractual
obligations.
• Business process level: Issues also arise at the business process level,
where progress towards the adoption by organisations of common
methods for IdM systems to communicate with each other may need
to be considered.
• Technical level: Some measure of standardisation is necessary to
achieve interoperability. The challenge is to encourage the develop-
ment and use of all types of standards, in the broadest senses, (e.g.
formal, informal, and private sector as appropriate) without stifling
competition or undermining innovation.
5.2 Empowering users

Education and awareness have long been recognised as key elements for
empowering users and fostering trust. To most users, IdM can be a confusing,
technical, and rapidly changing topic. Several considerations and challenges
can be identified:
• Incorporating privacy and security controls and training into the
design and operation of IdM systems, which might alleviate some of
the challenges and concerns for users.
• Consumers and citizens are currently faced with numerous digital
identification systems and techniques. Greater transparency in the
enrolment processes and the transfer processes for identity data are
key issues to enabling them to make informed choices. Similarly
addressing the education and awareness challenges can help
consumers and citizens manage their digital identities appropriately.
• The proliferation of IdM systems could dilute accountability and
transparency for how they are managed and operated, and in
particular who bears what responsibility in the case of an incident. A
major element of building user trust is the level of accountability
and transparency that can be attributed across individual components
of complex interconnected IdM systems. Accountability and
transparency across multiple services in diverse legal and technical
regimes is an important issue in empowering users.
5.3 Ensuring security

The security of IdM systems and communications requires the
development and implementation of consistent policies to ensure the
availability, confidentiality and integrity of identity data stored and exchanged
by participants across private and public systems and networks. Reliable and
robust IdM systems will be central and critical to the delivery of electronic
government and private sector services online. The following are some
challenges inherent in ensuring effective security:
• To have confidence in online services, users will expect identity
information to be available when and where required. They will also
expect that it is accurate and can only be accessed in storage and
transfer by those who have legitimate authority and purpose.
• Other challenges relate to the need to minimise the impact of the
disruption or corruption of an IdM system on any other services that
may be dependent upon it. Consistent security policies that can be
applied across all components of the services will need to be
developed and implemented. Joined-up services may raise particular

challenges in this respect.
• The architecture, design and technology choices of all IdM compo-
nents will be an important element to take into account in the assess-
ment of the security risks to− and privacy impact on − the delivery
of online services, and in determining appropriate levels of security.
• In the case of sensitive personal data, security concerns will be
especially important. Auditing controls may be useful, including
automated enforcement of user roles and rules. Developing processes
and procedures to address the possibility of a data breach will also
require attention.
• Another important consideration will be to ensure that the security
of IdM systems is rigorously maintained in all public and private
components. Audit controls can help to ensure that the security
measures in place are operating as intended. Likewise, regular
appraisals can help ensure that the security of the IdM system is
appropriate and fit for the purpose.
5.4 Ensuring privacy

Much of the identity data in an IdM system will be personal informa-
tion. If designed with inadequate privacy and data security controls, the use
of identity information could lead to adverse consequences for consumers,
including the risk of identity theft. When deployed effectively, however, IdM
can play a privacy protective role, particularly in the context of social
interactions. Important privacy considerations relate to data collection, data
usage and storage, data minimisation, anonymity, pseudonymity, and the
extent to which individuals have control over how their personal data is used.
A number of these issues are identified below, not all of which are unique to
IdM, but each of which is particularly implicated by the deployment of IdM.
• The potentially unlimited lifespan of digitised identity information
and the declining costs of storage and processing raise issues
regarding long-term assurances of safe storage and appropriate
usage, and highlight the value of eliminating identity-related
personal information when it is no longer needed.
• There is a risk that the greater availability of credentials from high-
level assurance systems could increase their use in systems with
lower-level assurance needs. This could increase the risk to personal
data.
• Identity systems that facilitate anonymity and pseudonymity may

offer promise. Their deployment would raise issues regarding who
has the right to decide which data should be veiled and the circum-
stances under which it might be unveiled. This is of particular
importance to the exercise of free expression, free association, and
the security of the person. Linking identities that do not share the
same degree of anonymity, or that contain different sets of attributes
may allow others to overcome pseudonyms and discover the user’s
identity.
• Differences may arise as to which practices of identity and other
data collection, use, and retention can be left to market forces and
those that should be the subject of government intervention.
6. Conclusion
Achieving the Seoul Ministerial mandate to strengthen confidence and

security through policies that ensure the protection of digital identities will
require a global perspective across the broad areas of policy, law and
technology. Key to developing policies for IDM is balancing privacy and
security with the need for usability and interoperability while at the same
time recognising that such policies will touch economic and societal
interests of governments, businesses, and individuals.
Integral to these challenges is the role of government and its involve-
ment in providing both assurances for online interactions and protection for
individuals. As the Internet economy grows in importance, OECD govern-
ments recognise that there is a need to foster collaboration with private
sector and civil society groups on the development of a policy framework
for the protection and management of digital identities. Such a framework
should provide an opportunity to strengthen trust, confidence and security in
the online marketplace and e-government. It should provide assurances of
identity online while preserving privacy, thereby contributing to the
sustainable development of the Internet economy.
Notes
1
OECD, “The Seoul Declaration for the Future of the Internet Economy” (2008),
available at: www.oecd.org/futureinternet.
2
The use of the term “Internet” is intended to be broad, and reflect the convergence
of digital networks, devices, applications and services.
3
The OECD has done significant work on the privacy and security issues associated
with RFID tags. See, OECD, “Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID): a Focus on
Information Security and Privacy” (2008), available at:
www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2007doc.nsf/linkto/dsti-iccp-reg(2007)9-final. It is now
undertaking work on sensor-based networks.
4
OECD consideration of IdM began with a workshop held in Trondheim, Norway
in May 2007. See,
www.oecd.org/document/41/0,3343,en_2649_34255_38327849_1_1_1_1,00.html.
5
OECD Recommendation on Electronic Authentication (2007). This
Recommendation builds on an e-authentication report providing policy and
practical guidance. Both are available at:
6
OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of
Personal Data (1980), available at:
www.oecd.org/document/20/0,3343,en_2649_34255_15589524_1_1_1_1,00.html;
OECD, Information and Network Security Guidelines (2002), available at:
www.oecd.org/sti/cultureofsecurity
7
OECD, “Online Identity Theft: Measuring the Threat to Consumers” (2008),
available at:
www.oecd.org/document/59/0,3343,en_2649_34267_40830139_1_1_1_1,00.html.
8
OECD, “The Future of the Internet: A Statistical Profile” (2008), available at:
9
OECD “Shaping Policies for the Future of the Internet Economy” (2008), at page.
26, available at: www.oecd.org/futureinternet.
10
OECD Guidance for Electronic Authentication (2007), at page. 12, available at:
11
The ISO IdM standard is ISO/IEC 24760. Other ISO standards that may be
relevant include: Information Security Management (ISO/IEC 27001 and 27002);
A Privacy Framework (ISO/IEC 29100); A Privacy Reference Architecture (ISO
IEC 29101); Authentication Context for Biometrics (ISO/IEC 24761); Biometric
Template Protection (ISO/IEC 24745).
12
See, www2.icao.int/en/mrtd/Pages/default.aspx.
Appendix I
Technical models
Historically, computerised identity systems kept identity-related
information in separate “silos” that did not allow it to flow between different
organisations and accounts. Over time, technical models have emerged to
provide innovative ways for identity data to flow across silos. Continuous
evolution has brought about hybrids and will likely give rise to new models.
The first part of this appendix presents a brief overview of the models as
though they are completely distinct so as to highlight their different features.
It is followed by a table describing the models’ characteristics and a figure
of each model showing the links between the parties to indicate who may
hold personal data.
1. Siloed identity systems
A “siloed” identity system is one that is designed and operated in an

independent manner, with no formal connections with other identity
systems. Informal connections inherently exist in siloed systems (for
example, the use of common attributes such as a name or date of birth) yet
their influences are often overlooked. The main benefit of siloed identity
systems is that corruption has a more limited reach, since user attributes in
one system cannot be easily linked to different identifiers of the same users
in other domains. As a result, a security problem in one domain (such as
identity theft) is less likely to spill over into others.
However, siloed identity systems do not afford the convenience of
linked-up systems. As soon as a person has multiple accounts on many
different systems, the user experience becomes complicated and difficult to
manage with a proliferation of account names, passwords, and profile data.
From the point of view of an organisation providing multiple services to an
individual, siloed systems are inefficient since identity data has to be
maintained in multiple accounts within the organisation. The organisation is
in some sense wasting resources and duplicating efforts in maintaining
separate profiles with (mostly) the same information.
Nonetheless, there can also be value in controlling – not sharing – the
use of identity data. There may be strong reasons for keeping profile data,
even aspects of it, isolated from other data and particularly isolating profile
data from other organisations or uses.
2. Centralised identity systems
One attempt to address the inconvenience of having identity information

separated in silos is the centralisation approach. With this model, a person’s
data is housed independently of the application silos in a repository such as
a directory, with data then made available to service providers from that one
central source. Directories have evolved over the years to meet the
increasing needs to share and reuse identity information and are the most
common model for storing and managing digital identities.
3. Federated identity systems
With the “federated” model, service providers do not aggregate their

account information, but rather establish a central “identity provider” that
keeps track of which user identifiers correspond to the same user. In other
words, federation links up previously unlinked identifiers. Begun in part as a
reaction to the policy issues (privacy and security) created by centralised
identity management, federation was designed to keep different account data
distributed among service providers, with centrally linked up identifiers
facilitating data flow among those service providers in the group who agree
to trust each other.
A user can access services by authenticating to the central identity
provider (which can also be a service provider), which in turn informs other
service providers in the federation about his authentication status. The value
for the person is that a single authentication event at their primary account
can be used with multiple service providers. The arrangement is also
valuable for the organisations that are members of the federation, because
most of them do not need to create and maintain an account for the user in
order to offer him services. By relying on a person’s primary account to
authenticate him, other members of the federation avoid the burden of
password management. The identity provider can also facilitate any data
sharing that is to take place between any two accounts of a user, since it
knows which identifiers correspond to the same user. The provider in effect
becomes a trusted third party.
Federation can be more convenient for users and efficient for the
organisations managing their accounts, but it also gives rise to new
challenges. For example, it may not be easy to enable information sharing
between organisations that do not have a pre-established relationship but
from whom an individual would like co–ordinated service delivery. More
recently, contractual and policy models have emerged to supplement the
technology in order to help mediate relationships between unknown parties.
In addition, automated trust negotiation that relies partly on reputation
engines may help unknown organisations to form relationships for service

delivery.
Ideally, federated environments would have developed rules to
control downstream transfers of information to other actors. This can make
federation somewhat unwieldy for users who want their accounts to be
portable and who find themselves at the mercy of the organisations that
control their primary account. If those organisations choose not to establish
a federation relationship with users’ preferred service providers, users may
be unable to use their federated accounts to access those service providers.
Another challenge relates to the problem of determining liability for these
complex business relationships and protecting against theft and errors. The
main vulnerabilities stem from the fact that the identity provider knows
which identifiers correspond to a given user. This knowledge places the
identity provider in a position where it could impersonate the user or enable
others to do so.
Single sign-on
Single sign-on technology (SSO) reduces the number of times a user must
remember and use a password. In a typical deployment, single sign-on does
not usually reduce the number of logon events; instead, it uses client-side
technology to automate logons and hide them from the user, while still
protecting the security of user passwords and account information. Single
sign–on can be used in both federated and user-centric systems.
4. “User-centric” identity systems
User-centric identity systems are one approach to give users greater

control over their personal information. Users are allowed to choose identity
providers independently of service providers and do not need to provide
personal information to service providers in order to receive services.
Identity providers act as trusted third parties to store user account and profile
information and authenticate users, and service providers accept assertions
or claims about users from identity providers. However, with the user-
centric model, identity providers are not part of a federation and so are said
to operate in the interest of the users rather than in the interest of the service
providers. These service providers are called “relying parties.” In this
model, users choose what information to disclose when dealing with service
providers in particular transactions – although service providers may still
require certain information for the transaction to take place. Individuals may
use several identity providers as well, so that their information is not all
stored in one place.
To close the gap when a user and relying party distrust each other, an
identity provider can also serve as a trusted third-party broker. A user will
typically only trust a broker if s/he can control it; relying parties will not
trust a broker if the claims asserted are actually self-vouched by the user. To
respond to this dilemma, approaches are being developed with appropriate
steps used to prove identity so that all relying parties are assured that the
information is correct before engaging with the user, while leaving the
individual in control. Cryptography and other technologies can play a part
in this process.
Table A2.1. Features of Technology Models for IdM systems
Siloed Centralised Federated User-Centric

Method of The user The user The user The user
Authentication authenticates to authenticates to authenticates to authenticates to
each account one main an identity identity
when he wishes account. provider, with providers, and
to use it. this one service providers
authentication have to rely on
serving for the that
federation. authentication.
Location of Identity Identity Service Identity
Identity information is information is providers in the information is
Information stored in stored in the federation keep stored by identity
separate service one main separate providers chosen
provider account, a accounts in by the user. The
accounts. super account. different user can help
locations. They prevent the build-
may have up of profiles that
agreements for others hold about
sharing him.
information.
Method of There is no Linking between The identity Uses of
linking linking between accounts is not provider can cryptography can
accounts/ accounts and no applicable. (A indicate what prevent linkages
learning if they information flow user’s full profile identifiers for between a user’s
belong to the between them. resides in that accounts with different digital
same person single place.) federation identities, leaving
members the user in
correspond to control.
the same
person.
Table A2.1. Features of Technology Models for IdM systems (cont’d)
Siloed Centralised Federated User-Centric

Trust The user is The user is Users have Users can keep
Characteristics reliant on the reliant on the rights from accounts
(who is service provider service provider contracts, but separate and still
dependent on to protect their to maintain the they may be allow information
whom, for information, privacy and unfamiliar with to flow, but bear
what) even if limited. security of all of options. The greater
The absence of his or her data. federation has responsibility.
information leverage as it is
sharing has in possession of
privacy the user’s
advantages. information.
Convenience Siloed accounts This Other members Users may be ill-
are inconvenient arrangement is of the federation equipped to
for users and easy for the avoid the manage their
service user since he or burden of own data (also a
providers due to she only has to credential vulnerability) and
multiple deal with one management. may need
authentications, credential to call Organisations training and
redundant entry up the account that provide awareness-
of information, and since he or services to a raising.
and lack of data she has to user can
flow. authenticate coordinate
just once. service delivery.
Vulnerabilities Siloed systems The central Users have little Concentration in
offer the party controls input into the the market for
advantage of the person’s business-partner identity providers
having limited entire profile; agreements. could leave them
data on hand, other entities Some service with much power.
thus creating have little to providers will set Currently there is
less of an check that up federation no way to
incentive for profile against, systems to safeguard data
attack. They and an insider exploit users. after it has been
also have a could Currently there shared.
better defined impersonate the is no way to
and stronger person or alter safeguard data
security data. Currently after it has been
boundary to keep there is no way shared.
attackers out and to safeguard
limit exposure data after it has
from failures. been shared.
Figure 1. Individuals (data subjects ) and providers of services, claims, and

identifiers: Who holds the personal data and What are the links between these parties?
SILO MODEL* CENTRALISED MODEL
Provider of Provider of Provider Provider

Service Service of Service of Service
Holder of Some Holder of Some
Personal Data Personal Data
Provider of Claims
(Assertions)
Holder of ALL
Personal Data
Provider of Provider of
Service Service
Provider Provider
Holder of Some Holder of Some of Service of Service
* No claims provider is needed in a silo

model
FEDERATION MODEL USER-CENTRIC MODEL
Provider of Provider of Provider of
Service & Claims Service & Claims Claims Provider
Provider
of Holder of Some of
Service Personal Data Service
Provider of
Identifiers Provider of Provider of
Claims Claims
Provider of Provider of
Service & Claims Service & Claims
Holder of Some Holder of Some Provider of
Personal Data Provider Claims Provider
Personal Data
of of
Service Holder of Some Service
Personal Data
Appendix II
Additional IDM Resources
International organisations
ENISA, “Privacy Features of European eID Card Specifications” (2009),
available at:
www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/deliverables/enisa_privacy_features_eID.
pdf.
ENISA, “Security Issues of Authentication Using Mobile Devices” (2008),
available at:
www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/deliverables/enisa_pp_mobile_eid.pdf.
FIDIS, Identity in a Networked World” (2006), available at:
www.fidis.net/resources/networked-world/
ITU-T Focus Group on Identity Management “Report on Requirements for
Global Interoperable Identity Management” (2007) available at:
ftp3.itu.ch/fgidm/Deliverables/0296-att-1.doc. Additional information is
available here: www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/com17/fgidm/index.html.
ITU-T Study Group 13, “Framework architecture for interoperable identity
management systems” (2009).
PRIME, “Prime White Paper” (2008) available at: https://www.prime-
project.eu/prime_products/whitepaper/index_html.
PrimeLife, “First Report on Standardisation and Interoperability” (2008),
available at:
www.primelife.eu/images/stories/deliverables/d3.3.1_d3.4.1-public.pdf.
Governments
Australia, “National Identity Security Strategy” and “Documents
Verification Service”,
www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Crimeprevention_Identitysecurit
y#q1.
Australia, “National e-Authentication Framework”, www.finance.gov.au/e-

government/security-and-authentication/docs/NeAF-framework.pdf.
Industry Canada, “Protecting and Managing Digital Identities Online:
Understanding and Addressing the Public Policy Issues of Online
Identity Assurances” (February 2009).
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, “The New Federated
Privacy Impact Assessment (F-PIA): Building Privacy and Trust-enabled
Federation” (2009), available at: www.ipc.on.ca/images/Resources/F-
PIA_2.pdf.
Privacy Commissioner of Canada, “Identity, Privacy and the Need of Others
to Know Who You Are: A Discussion Paper on Identity Issues” (2007),
available at: www.privcom.gc.ca/information/pub/id_paper_e.pdf.
U.S. National Science and Technology Council, “Identity Management Task
Force Report 2008”, available at:
www.biometrics.gov/Documents/IdMReport_22SEP08_Final.pdf.
Other resources and initiatives

Biometrics Institute Privacy Code:
www.biometricsinstitute.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=8.
Higgins Open Source Identity Framework: www.eclipse.org/higgins/.
Identity Commons: idcommons.net/.
Information Card Foundation: informationcard.net/.
Jericho Forum: www.opengroup.org/jericho/
Liberty Alliance, “Liberty Identity Assurance Framework” (2008, v1.1)
available at:
www.projectliberty.org/liberty/content/download/4315/28869/file/liberty
-identity-assurance-framework-v1.1.pdf.
Mary Rundle and Paul Trevithick, “Interoperability in the New Digital
Identity Infrastructure,” (2007), available at:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=962701.
Mary Rundle, et. al, “At a Crossroads: ‘Personhood’ and Digital Identity in
the Information Society”(2008), available at:
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/31/6/40204773.doc.
OASIS Identity Metasystem Interoperability (IMI) TC: www.oasis-
open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=imi.
OpenID: openid.net/.
Pamela Dingle (OSIS), “Analysis of a User-Centric Interoperability Event”

(2008), available at: www.nulli.com/documents/I3_Analysis.pdf.
Robin McKenzie and Malcolm Crompton, “Use Case for Identity
Management in E-government” available at:
www.iispartners.com/IEEE_artilcle_Apr2008.pdf.
3G Americas, “Identity Management: Overview of Standards and
Technologies for Fixed and Mobile Internet” (2009), available at:
new.3gamericas.org/documents/3GAmericas_Unified_Identity_Manage
ment_Jan2009.pdf.
ANNEX 3: REPORT OF THE OECD WORKSHOP ON DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT – 169
Annex 3
Report of the OECD workshop on digital identity

management
The OECD held a Workshop on Digital Identity Management (IDM) on 8-9

May 2007 in Trondheim, Norway, that was co-hosted by Norway’s Ministry
of Government Administration and Reform and Ministry of Education and
Research. The event was organised by the OECD Working Party on
Information Security and Privacy (WPISP) and attracted some 70 partici-
pants, gathered from government, industry, academia and civil society
organisations across the OECD.
The objective of the two-day workshop was to bring together experts to
explore the main policy issues surrounding digital identity management, and
in particular to establish a common understanding of the challenges raised
by IDM with respect to information security and privacy. Discussions on the
first day concentrated on illustrative examples of IDM frameworks, solutions
and applications. Day 2 focused on the users of IDM systems, both in terms
of their needs and the challenges they face. The concluding session brought
together some of the main themes raised during the workshop, with a view to
arriving at some useful steps that could be taken at the international level,
including by the OECD.
This document presents summaries of the four sessions, the last of which
includes the Chair’s main points from the workshop. It has been prepared by
the OECD Secretariat. Presentations delivered at the workshop and other
workshop materials are available online via the OECD website at:
www.oecd.org/sti/security-privacy/idm.
170 – ANNEX 3: REPORT OF THE OECD WORKSHOP ON DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
Welcome and keynote speeches
On behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Government Administration

and Reform, Hugo Parr welcomed participants to Trondheim, noting its
reputation as the IT capital of Norway. Describing the most recent eNorway
Plan, he explained that public ICT systems in Norway will have a common
backbone, based on common standards, and certain common components
across all sectors which will include eID. Turning to his aspirations for the
workshop, Mr. Parr expressed his hope that participants could identify good,
simple, trustworthy interoperable systems as well as helping to bridge the
gap between the policy makers and the experts.
Welcoming participants on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of
Education and Research, Jan Peter Stromsheim, conveyed the regrets of
Mr. Hans Christian Holte, who was unable to participate in the event as had
been planned. In his remarks, Mr. Stromsheim highlighted the increasingly
crucial role of ICT for education, describing the Federated Identity
Management program that has been developed for the Norwegian education
system. Already operational within institutions of higher education, the
identity management system is expected to be available by 2010 for all
schools – a considerable challenge given the large number of schools and
students involved, as well as the variations in ICT skill levels.
The Workshop Chair, Katarina de Brisis, offered participants words of
welcome as well. Beginning with an introduction to the work of the WPISP
(which she serves as a vice-chair) Ms. De Brisis also linked WPISP work on
IDM to an OECD Ministerial meeting on the Future of the Internet
Economy to be held in Seoul in June 2008. In terms of key IDM issues, she
expressed her hope the workshop would help participants get a better grasp
of the relationships between identity and digital identity, as well as the
challenges of achieving interoperability in this space. In this respect she
highlighted the importance of understanding the architectures and
frameworks currently under development.
Daniel Greenwood, from the MIT Media lab, delivered the first of two
keynote addresses. He provided a broad context on IDM systems and
architectures, beginning with the identification of three models for IDM
systems. The first model is characterised by centralised ownership and decision
making, the second is a federated model, and the third is oriented around
individual ownership and decision making. Further distinctions can be drawn in
terms of the trust models around which IDM systems are based. Some are
authority-based (e.g. national identity card), others power-based (e.g. in the
employment context), and still others agreement-based (e.g. federated systems).
The presentation also noted that distinctions can be drawn between organisation
models for IMD systems and their technical architectures.
Mr. Greenwood observed that digital identity is a key component of the
transformation to an information society/economy, noting that existing
processes for handling digital identity are not sufficient. ID theft, for
example, has social impacts – sense of violation, loss of self-confidence –
the economic consequences of which are difficult to measure. Key
short-term needs for improved IDM can be seen in areas like social
networking, aggregate intelligence, group decision making, and reputation
engines. Noting that special protections are needed for protecting the core
element of identity, Mr. Greenwood called for the creation of an
international identity bill of rights (inspired by the OECD Privacy
Guidelines) as well as a global infrastructure for the interoperability and
integrity of identity and authentications in all sectors. There is, he
explained, a unique need for international co-operation in this area.
The second keynote address was delivered by Andreas Pfitzmann, who
focused his presentation on the concept of digital identity itself. Digital identity
primarily is a set of attributes, some of which change over time and some of
which may be certified by third parties. Given the increasing collection and use
of digital data, a digital identity is only growing – never shrinking.
One of the key concepts introduced by Mr. Pfitzmann is that of the
partial identity (pID). Achieving security and privacy, he explained, requires
users to subset their digital identity into pIDs, each of which might have its
own name, identifier, and means of authentication. Using pIDs requires at
least one personal computer administrating personal data and executing
cryptographic protocols that is controlled by the user; digital pseudonyms
for secure authentication, and anonymous credentials to transfer certified
attributes from one pID to another pID of the same digital identity.
Mr. Pfizmann offered a variety of ways to classify identity attributes,
including whether they are authenticated by third parties; easy to change;
varying over time; given vs. chosen; and pure attributes vs. attributes
containing side information. Attributes that are not easy to change, that do
not vary over time, are given, or contain side information require greater
protection than others and may be considered “core ID”. For online use, Mr.
Pfizmann recommended that users manage their own IDs, presenting pIDs
via digital pseudonyms. He also noted the importance of having the right
tools and communications partners. He concluded his keynote explaining at
the present we have an identity management patchwork. Just as security is
only as good as the weakest link of the chain, privacy is at most as good as
the most privacy-invasive “layer” you are using. What is needed therefore is
an identity management framework to address both security and privacy.
The discussion that followed the keynotes was oriented around the
degree to which individuals should be thought of as “owning” their identity,
as an antidote to the view of many organisations who consider that they
“own” the personal data they have accumulated on their customers. It was
suggested that ownership is not a particularly useful concept in this context,
and that a discussion oriented around the notion of “control” is more likely
to be constructive.
Session 1: Frameworks, solutions and R&D projects
The aim of this session was to provide an overview of interoperable

identity frameworks, models and solutions, whether federated or “user-
centric,” already developed or still being researched. Dirk Van Rooy of the
European Commission served as the moderator, noting his interest is taking
from the session discussion some good ideas for future research projects.
Speaking on behalf of the Liberty Alliance Framework, Robin Wilton
of Sun Microsystems, explained that five years ago Liberty was formed to
address the challenges of federated identity, not just from the supplier
perspective but also from the one of the adopters. The work being done by
Liberty includes not only the development of technical specifications but the
preparation of advice and guidance along with an ecosystem of products and
services. In terms of the challenges, Mr. Wilton highlighted privacy and
liability issues, noting the need to ensure that an individual’s privacy
preferences are “stuck” to data as it moves between organisations.
The second speaker in this session, Chris Brunio of Microsoft, began
by observing that identity is the missing layer in the Internet, leaving us in
identity silos. He described the “laws of identity” as a way to structure our
understanding of identity, and the role of the “laws” in an identity
metasystem that includes devices, technology, applications, governments,
organisations, businesses and individuals. In order to return control to
individuals, Mr. Brunio explained, Cardspace allows users to select an
identity (a graphical representation) and transfer only the identity that is
desired/requested.
The next speaker, Thomas Gross of IBM, provided an overview of the
Privacy and Identity Management Project for Europe (PRIME). The vision
of this joint industry-academia initiative is to enable users to act and interact
in a safe and secure way while retaining control of their private sphere. Mr.
Gross highlighted a number of design principles for PRIME: design must
start from maximum privacy, with privacy rules being explicit, enforced,
trustworthy and usable. He noted that identity management with strong
privacy protection is emerging significantly and that open standards are vital
for enabling collaboration. He advocated the promotion of pseudonyms,

partial identities, and controlled attribute release, concluding that when in
doubt, the user should be empowered to make the decision.
Tony Rutowski, Verisign, addressed his remarks on the topic of
bridging the IDM gaps, through a discussion of a recently formed group at
the ITU-T. The ITU work is motivated in part by a growing realisation by
critical infrastructure protection communities of the vulnerabilities of
today’s ubiquitous nomadic use of public IP-Enabled network infra-
structures. Mr. Rutowski identified as a key challenge that global discovery
capabilities are rapidly diminishing. Given the variety of perspectives
through which IDM is approached – user centric vs. network operator vs.
application service provider – there is a need for a common global Identity
Management framework. The objectives of the project are the development
of a trusted ability to manage ICT credentials, assigned identifiers, attribute
information and reputation/patterns. It will also aim to accommodate a
variety of autonomous and evolving platforms. Mr. Rutowski closed his
presentation noting the need to identify and close IdM “regulatory gaps” both
at the national and international levels.
Moving the discussion to research and development, Jim Dray
highlighted the vision of his work at the US National Institute of Standards
and Technology: identities that work seamlessly everywhere, that allow user
control over private information, and that relying parties can trust. He noted
that smart card interoperability still faces challenges, both in term of
platforms (tokens, interfaces) and credentials (data formats, name space
management). The latter challenge – semantic interoperability – is the
tougher of the two. Mr. Dray identified a number of key research topics,
including the need for common models and approaches to ontology,
namespaces, and interoperability. He also noted the need for research into
more basic questions like why do we want globally interoperable eID? Even
more basic questions regarding what is an identity and what aspects of it do
we need/want to manage still need work.
Denis Royer, Goethe University Frankfurt, described a European
research programme, the Future of Identity in the Information Society
(FIDIS). He highlighted the interdisciplinary character of IDM, which
includes socio-cultural, technology, governmental, and economic elements.
FIDIS is seeking to determine how the different identities, roles, and systems
can be integrated. This requires answering questions like, which processes and
workflows are actually affected? How is privacy and data protection handled?
How to deal with compliance? Who is actually responsible? This approach
makes clear that Identity Management is not a purely technology driven
topic, but also has a scientific, social, legislative, and economic dimension.
During the discussion at the conclusion of the session, workshop

participants provided a number of responses to the Chair’s request for an
identification of the key topics for further research. Reiterating themes of
the speaker presentations these responses included a catalogue of models
and use cases that individuals can understand, research on how to ensure the
discoverability of identity, addressing the semantic challenges through the
development of common language and vocabulary.
Session 2: Government and business case studies
Jane Hamilton, of Industry Canada, moderated the second session,

which focused on government and business case studies. She encouraged the
speakers to touch on a number of issues in their presentations, including the
degree to which the case study fits with the “silo”, walled garden or more
interoperable models as well as the type of architecture and trust model on
which it relied.
The first of several speakers providing IDM examples from the public
sector was Ingrid Melve, UNINETT Norway. She described FEIDE, a
federated IDM system for connecting all users in the Norwegian education
sector. She noted that the benefits of the FEIDE system include a single
username/password for users across services. This provides user convenience
and creates savings for the service providers in terms of password resets. She
described the trust fabric, which is based on contractual arrangements, as well
as the technologies, and business drivers. Highlighting the challenges, Ms.
Melve observed that finding trusted means of authentication remained a
challenge, along with enforcing the information policy flows.
Moving the discussion from the education sector to public sector
employees, Curt Barker, US NIST, described the US government
programme called PIV (Personal Identity Verification) for employees and
contractors. The NIST has been working to develop standards and guidelines
for the PIV. Mr. Baker noted that a number of impediments have been
encountered, including a tight schedule, large and mutually non-interoperable
installed base, business models predicated on proprietary discriminators,
privacy interests, biometric interoperability issues, and varied use cases.
Among the lessons learned to date, a key point is the value of minimising the
amount of information on the card.
Highlighting the role of government as a provider of identities, Sara
Marshall described the work of the UK Home Office Identity and Passport
Service, including the policy framework for maximising the benefits of a
new national identity scheme. She highlighted a context that includes
economic migration, money laundering, terrorism, and aging populations.
She highlighted the need for careful balancing, for example, between
security and costs and customer experiences or between effective public

services and safeguarding privacy, or finally, simply balancing the benefits
to the state vs. the benefits to the individual.
Speaking on behalf of the Korean Information Security Agency (KISA)
Chanjoo Chung described the genesis of the i-PIN in Korea, which was
developed in part to respond to problems with theft of the Korean Resident
Registration Numbers. The i-PIN is provided and managed by a trusted third
party. The benefits of the i-PIN include the fact that it can be reissued at any
time, contains no personal information (only issuer information), employs
strong identity verification methods, and cannot be used to trace other
website registration information. Currently some 25 000 Koreans have an i-
PIN, with the goal that all Koreans will have at least one soon. The next
version of the i-PIN, expected in 2008, is planned to be interoperable with
an e-wallet.
Re-orienting the discussion from IDM in the public sector to private
sector examples, Stephen Whitlock, Boeing, highlighted the challenges of
adapting a silo-based IDM system to an increasingly global enterprise
needing to manage identities of non-employees, devices and applications. In
some jurisdictions companies cannot ask for citizenship, but at the same
time some export decisions cannot be made without citizenship information.
He noted the increasing need for identity assurance levels between
enterprises, as well as challenge related to the blurring of identification,
authentication, and authorisation in products, protocols and ceremonies.
Continuing the focus on business case studies, Michael Barrett of
PayPal described the challenges of federating three highly decentralised
business units that had grown rapidly, emphasising the security issues. Good
anti-fraud procedures can help reduce financial losses, but do not necessarily
prevent a loss of user trust. Mr. Barrent noted that PayPal is the top-phished
brand on the Internet. The security measures implemented by PayPal include
authenticated e-mail, safe browsers, and a new PayPal Security Key
programme, which though still in beta has already issued 40 000 RSA
tokens to allow more secure access to PayPal accounts.
Jean-Pierre Tual, Gemalto, presented a case study from the tele-
communications industry. He described IMD for telcos as a “nightmare”,
particularly for mobile operators. One response has been the creation of the
Fidelity project, a consortium of leading European telcos, industry and
research organisations that are implementing circles of trust according to
Liberty Alliance specifications. The goal is to enable an exchange of identity
and authentication of citizens between service and identity providers, while
leaving the identity data under the user’s control. Among the challenges he
identified is presenting the whole process (user consent, interface, registration,
etc.) in an understandable way to the user, as well as attribute brokerage,

authentication delegation, security, and neutrality.
In concluding Day 1, the Workshop Chair, Katarina de Brisis, high-
lighted some key themes, including the need for terminology to make
discussion easier. She also noted the need for a narrative to help individuals
and stakeholders better understand the benefits and requirements of IDM.
Likewise, a better understanding of the trust issues could be of assistance.
On the whole, a key emerging theme is the role of governments in this area.
Session 3: Technical, legal and societal challenges and responses
This session focused on technical, legal and societal dimensions of IDM,

with a view to identifying critical success factors for developing coherent
and trustworthy systems. It was moderated by Jan-Martin Lowendahl of
the Gartner Group who highlighted his hope that some simple guidance
would emerge from the discussions.
Three speakers addressed the topic of interoperability, the first of whom
was Andre Vasconcelos, of the Portuguese Knowledge Society Agency. He
described the interoperability framework for the new Portuguese citizen’s
card, which will replace five other national cards. The card is a physical
document that allows the visual identification of a citizen and it is also a
digital document that allows the citizen to identify himself/herself and to
electronically sign documents. In addition to addressing interoperability
challenges related to data formats, authorisation processes, and general
incompatibility between different public administration databases, it is
planned that the card should be interoperable with other European systems.
Plans are already made with Belgian authorities in this respect.
Gillian Ormiston, Motorola, began her presentation by noting some of
the basic challenges related to interoperability and identity: dates are
rendered in formats that appear the same, but reverse the places for day and
month; the same names can result in transliteration problems depending on
the language in which it is being rendered; the same person can have
multiple residences and even citizenships. Ms. Ormiston emphasised that
cross-border interoperability requires standards, but also an understanding of
how to interpret the standards. A European standards testing and accredita-
tion body would be useful in this context. Other interoperability issues
identified by Ms. Ormiston include data storage and equipment issues, and
variations in data protection legislation.
Paul Trevithick described Higgins, an open source identity agenda and
interoperability framework. It takes a privacy enhancing user-centric
approach. Maximum decentralisation is good for privacy and security,
which can be accomplished by using the user to link things back together.
Users have many partial identities, each in its own context or silo. All these
separate contexts can be linked via a metaphor called an i-card, with each
partial identity having a separate i-card. The i-cards in turn are managed by
an identity agent (e.g. Microsoft Cardspace) which can run on a computer or
a mobile device in the Internet cloud. Once the user is authenticated to the
agent, there is no further need for passwords. The agent projects and protects
identity attributes for authentication and personalisation. Attributes can be
blinded using PRIME/Idemix technology. As an interoperability framework
Higgins also provides a common data model that enables linking across
heterogeneous contexts.
Moving the discussion from interoperability to security, Ben Laurie,
Google, presented his ideas on selective disclosure, a technique for
minimising the privacy risks associated with the use of digital signature in
connection with an IDM system. More precisely, Mr. Laurie’s objective was
to be privacy protective by ensuring that data a user shares with one website
is not linkable to data shared with any other site with which the user
interacts. For an IDM system to be both useful and privacy protective it
must permit assertions that are verifiable, minimal, and unlinkable. The
challenges arise when traditional digital signatures are used to authenticate a
user or make a verifiable assertion that permits replying parties and assertion
issuers to collude to link the assertions and therefore the identifiers. The
solution proposed by Mr. Laurie, involves the use of a cryptography
technology that permits zero-knowledge and selective disclosure proofs.
These can allow a user to prove an assertion and link that proof to an
identity, but to do so in a way that does not provide the relying party access
to material that could be later linked to other assertions. Of course, some
assertions will contain inherently identifying information, like a physical
address, which will usually be linkable. But selective disclosure can prevent
users from being exposed to the risk that less obvious kinds of information
be linked.
The second speaker on security, Bob Blakley of the Burton Group,
highlighted what he considers to be the absurdity of “owning” your own
identity. A lot of identity information is owned by others. And a person
cannot sell her identity, or access services without disclosing it. Even if my
records are de-identified, data mining can reconstruct them. The problems
relate to asymmetry and risks posed by aggregation of data. What needs to
be abandoned is the notion of privacy as secrecy. A person can retain
his/her dignity even if people know something about him/her. The key, Mr.
Blakey concluded, is to ensure that people who receive personal information
treat it with respect and are held accountable.
Frank Leyman, FEDICT, discussed security architectures and trust

modeling. He highlighted increasing risks for users, including the theft of
data, misuse of data for other purposes, and easier linkages between
databases, but also the potential benefits, like more efficient use of available
data, electronic handling of formalities, and the simplification of procedures.
Mr. Leyman described a paper-based single sign-on identity that is being
introduced in Belgium to be accompanied by a mandatory smartcard
electronic identity card. A strong focus will be placed on ensuring the
sources are authentic. Potential public sector uses include the signing of
digital documents, on-line tax declaration, on-line consulting of a personal
file in the National Register, and a variety of local authorities’ applications
(e.g. change of address, request for attestations, library access cards, etc.)
Other possible uses include e-commerce, student cards, and e-banking.
Richard Mapleston, Shell, discussed the importance of risk
management and auditing. His presentation highlighted the increasing
demands for transparent audit trails from electronic documents and the need
to securely bind content and identity. The challenges are particularly acute
when a company wants to work outside with third parties. The default
solution for the moment is e-mail, but this is not robust enough and digital
signatures could be the future. Mr. Mapelston pointed out that the real
challenges to adoption are organisational not technical. He concluded that
government leadership and direction appears to make the difference,
particularly in the context of government procurement.
Discussion focused on identifying the most critical challenges.
Proposals were varied, ranging from the need for an exceptions-handling
process, to the difficulty of getting all key stakeholders in the same room;
from the need for success stories based on decentralised architectures to the
need to focus more on outcomes for individuals and less of technology
architectures.
Toby Stevens of the Enterprise Privacy Group proposed a reorientation
of the debate from identity management to identity assurance. Highlighting
the challenges related to enrolment, he explained that the benefits of
large-scale approaches to IDM flow to the organisations who will be able to
limit their liabilities, rather than to consumers who will simply end up
revealing more personal data. We don’t often need to know who someone is,
just whether or not they are authorised to do something. Mr. Stevens
proposed that governments should establish a uniqueness register,
established via biometrics and other attributes, and then vouch for the
uniqueness of an individual in the register. What is needed is uniqueness
management, not identity management.
Reporting on a recent Federal Trade Commission workshop, Naomi

Lefkovitz focused her remarks on the challenges of creating consumer trust
and acceptance. Held on April 23-24, the workshop explored use of
authentication and IDM processes as a means of reducing identity theft. The
key message from the workshop is that without consumer trust and
acceptance any IDM system would fail. Ms. Lefkovitz identified consumer
beliefs about benevolence, integrity, and mental models as key factors in
influencing trust. Building trust required a confluence of: an alignment of
drivers (e.g. convenience, access to services); effective design and usability,
consumer education, and a legal framework that protects privacy,
appropriately allocates risk and provides failure management.
Fred Carter, from the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioners
Office, continued the discussion of privacy issues, echoing the notion that
weak public confidence and trust is the primary obstacle to user acceptance.
Mr. Carter described work done in his office to condense the fair
information practices into three principles: data minimisation, user
participation and control, and information security. He noted that IDM
should be considered in the context of other privacy enhancing technologies,
which have experienced considerable difficulties in becoming operational
over the past ten years. He commended the application of the privacy
embedded seven “laws of identity” in the deployment of IDM systems and
also noted the privacy benefits possible with biometric encryption.
Irma von der Ploeg, Zuyd University, began with some opening
remarks about attributes and identifiers before describing her assessment
methodology which focuses on three key elements: identifiers, system
architecture, and systems in use. She identified a number of emerging IDM
challenges: avoiding security and privacy risks (skimming, phishing,
hackable databases etc.); limiting identity to where it is strictly required;
maximising PETs, pseudonymity, anonymity. She noted that universal
identifiers (e.g. biometrics) exacerbate security and privacy risks, that there
is a need to design digital identities for a specific context/domain, and that
different definitions and forms of ‘security’ lead to contradictory priorities
in IDM system design. She further noted that managing digital identity
should not remain a prerogative of the system owners but allow for end user
control and that technical issues should be considered as normative/political
issues. Ms. Von der Ploeg concluded that further transparency and public
debate is needed, along with informed citizens/customers.
Mary Rundle, Harvard Law School, began by highlighting the potential
benefits of IDM in terms of convenience and security, reduced fraud and
phishing, the hassles of lost passwords and even helping to usher in a new
Internet boom. To bring these benefits, however, Ms. Rundle identified as a
key challenge the need to bridge data protection principles and identity
management technologies. To be effective potential solutions should:

observe international data protection standards; be clear and easy for people;
hook into the IDM infrastructure; allow audits of how data is treated; and
afford a mechanism for redress. One way to implement the clear and easy
aspects of a solution would be to develop Creative Commons-like icons that
are readable by humans, lawyers, and machines. Ms. Rundle concluded by
proposing that the OECD or another international body consider offering
redress services in the data protection context.
Session 4: Conclusions and next steps
The final session wrapped up the two-day discussion and provided an

overview of the key policy concerns. Participants included the two keynote
speakers and the moderators, joined by Malcolm Crompton of Information
Integrity Solutions and Thomas Gross of IBM.
Ms. de Brisis offered preliminary thoughts as workshop chair to
facilitate the panel discussion. There was widespread agreement that the
workshop had been interesting, had brought together a wide range of
interests, and had offered a “concentrated reality check” that revealed: i) the
confusion still surrounding IDM; ii) the need for further analysis and
research; iii) the need for common understanding, and; iv) the need to
identify policy actions. Confusion included questions still unanswered such
as: why are we talking about digital identity management? what are we
talking about? who are the stakeholders? what are the key success factors for
the stakeholders? She reminded participants of the role that OECD could
play here, namely to foster trade and development in the information
economy while ensuring respect of essential requirements in market
democracies (e.g. trans-border data flows, security and privacy).
The discussion was then conducted round the table, indicating a general
support for the Chair’s remarks. Mr. Crompton emphasised the need to
approach IDM with a user focus and to examine the real issues faced by
individuals. Those include control (as in “who is in control”; “how is control
shared”) and risk (what risks faced by the individuals are improved or made
worse or newly introduced by any ID management scheme and how might
they be re-allocated, mitigated or otherwise handled in order to make sure
that the IDM proposition is attractive and fair from their perspective) as well
as convenience. He noted that the user requirement for identity management
for e-enabled services between citizens and business and government is
different from a security law or enforcement requirement and that separation
of these objectives, and possibly separate delivery vehicles, is likely to be
essential for full citizen acceptance of IDM initiatives.
More generally, the discussion revolved around the recognition of the

broad scope and multifaceted nature of identity management. IDM is at the
intersection point between various contexts from national ID schemes to e-
commerce and user-centric systems. There are multiple challenges as well as
conflicting objectives and tensions between the needs of various
stakeholders. The roles of some stakeholders are multiple, subtle and
complex. Governments for example have up to three roles: as a protector of
the greater good, provider of digital identities and as a provider of services.
IDM can be approached from a technical, legal, or social point of view but
all need to be taken into account in a holistic manner. IDM is an important
issue for countries, not only for companies, and OECD is well placed to
assist.
Various suggestions for next steps were made, such as: developing a
thesaurus mapping the terms used in relation to IDM in different contexts to
facilitate a common understanding of the issues to be addressed (noting that
several already exist such as the effort of the ITU); further examining
models and catalogues of architectures, trust and discovery, and business
cases behind the use of IDM; analysing use cases to better understand the
life cycle of IDM and how to build in end-to-end security and privacy. The
need for sharing good practice among governments and with other
stakeholders as well as the need for guidance on the ideal IDM ecology
elements, including “agreed universal rights” for digital identity and
identifiers, were highlighted.
Ms. de Brisis noted that basic questions remain about the public policy
issues surrounding IDM and the varied ways in which they are viewed by
governments. Other key questions concern the IDM marketplace and the
roles of various actors. Various business models for IDM would need to be
examined to determine what efforts can be made towards securing
interoperability of IDM-schemes. Finally, more work is needed to identify
the costs/benefits of IDM as wells as interests of government, business and
individual users in IDM systems. Nevertheless, a number of areas of
agreement were found and next steps for OECD might inter alia focus on:
• Digital identity to determine what constitutes identity (core elements
providing unique identification independent of context) and how
identity maps into the digital world, to clarify who needs to be “in
control” of an identity and what being in control actually means. It
would be useful to identify ID attributes that need not be commonly
used (i.e. should only be used in “silos”), as well as the extent to
which core identity is compatible with partial identities and
pseudonyms.
• Identity management systems to clearly articulate the benefits of

IDM for the different stakeholders and in various contexts, to
remedy the lack of a compelling narrative for IDM across domains
or borders. Work also remains to be done to identify security and
privacy requirements for the different stakeholders, what are the
similarities and differences between IDM approaches – user-centric,
service provider-centric, and network-centric (e.g. Liberty Alliance,
InfoCard, OpenID). Finally guidance could be developed on design
and implementation of IDM across domains, in respect to:
- Usability / user friendliness
- Security
- Privacy protection – user control
- Cost-effectiveness
- The role of businesses and the role of governments.
Ms. de Brisis closed the workshop by thanking speakers and

participants for their active contributions during the workshop and also the
Norwegian government for hosting the event.

Digital Identity Management: Enabling Innovation and Trust in The Internet Economy

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DIGITAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT

Enabling Innovation and Trust in

Enabling Innovation and Trust in

When the OECD Working Party on Information Security and Privacy

Guidance for government policy makers ....................................................................... 7

Digital identity management for natural persons:

This report builds on the findings of the 2011 comparative analysis of

Digital identity management is fundamental for the further development

Digital identity management can be approached from many

I. Digital identity management is at the core of the Internet economy

1. In order to be known by the system, the individual must first register

Why is digital identity management essential for economic and

What are the benefits of digital identity management to users?

What are the policy challenges?

• First, many current digital identity management practices have

an offline manual process. This expensive step impedes the

What is the role of governments?

Governments are currently developing and implementing national

II. Policy guidance for governments

The principles below are based on the recognition that:

Governments should adopt a clear national strategy for digital

The potential long-term benefits to the broader Internet economy

Existing offline identity management practices could be a natural

offline identity management practices online to improve privacy protection

E-government activities should be aligned with the national strategy

A balanced digital credentials policy should be sought

Policies for digital identity management should ensure both security

Governments should work together to enable cross-border digital

1. This guidance should be considered in conjunction with relevant analytical reports

On digital identity management and electronic authentication

OECD (2007a), “OECD Recommendation on Electronic Authentication and

OECD (1980), “OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and

National strategies and policies for digital identity

This report is based on responses to the Questionnaire on National

The following 18 countries responded to the 2010 OECD questionnaire

Vision and strategy

fundamentally differ from that of the other countries. Generally, however,

Strategy: the primary focus of national IdM strategies is the public

authentication to be available in order to adopt the technology. Government

countries where offline identity management practices have never been

or jurisdiction with a high degree of autonomy with respect to the privacy

This section includes an analysis of the eighteen responses received from

National strategies for IdM

Stage Development Implementation

Two countries consider cybersecurity as the fundamental objective of

financing of crime and terrorism. The 2009 US Cyberspace Policy Review

While some countries keep private sector use of credentials – or

Digital credentials can be used in:

Single sign-on is or will be available for:

One observation is that no strategy expresses the need for a single or

All national strategies address all layers of public administration,

The enhancement of trust and security within the citizen to government

Table A1.3. Main components of national IdM strategies

Australia • Standards for Registration, Enrolment, Security for Proof of Identity

Table A1.3. Main components of national IdM strategies (cont’d)

New • Various identity/authentication guidelines and standards, i.e. Identity

The implementation of a single sign-on service for e-government services

For example Korea recommends the use of a digital certificate for e-

Countries which do not have a tradition of national identity cards