The Citizen is in Control: Mobile IDs - Completely Voluntary and Convenient

Secure mobile identity is becoming a reality for government-issued credentials. With smartphones in hand, individuals are already empowered to an unprecedented level, including gaining secure keyless access to automobiles, office buildings and hotel rooms. Going forward, citizens will have the option to conveniently use their smartphone as driver’s licenses or other identity-based documents. Over the past several months, we’ve discussed the five most important elements to keep in mind as governments introduce mobile IDs to the general public. All of the prin-ciples are critical to adoption but the notion that mobile IDs be voluntary is perhaps the most important.

Citizens — consumers of both free enterprise and government services — want to know that they have choices and that their personal information is protected and confidential. This can be especially true in today’s age where data breaches are making front-page news. So let’s take a deep dive into this principle: Mobile Identity Principle #1: Voluntarily Mobile.

Participation in a secure mobile identity solution for government credentials should be voluntary, and citizens should control whether and how their mobile government credential is released to an authority or private enterprise. Citizens must have control of their ID information by taking some form of affirmative ac-tion which indicates their intention to do so.

Or to be clearer, the citizen is in control. This is an important message as the move towards mobile IDs is gaining momentum worldwide. In fact, in the United States, the state of Iowa has already indicated its intention to make available a mobile driver’s license with its recent request for proposal (RFP) and at least 12 other states are in the process of passing laws to allow citizens to have their driver’s licenses on their smartphones. Naturally this big leap in innovation has created a lot of media attention. It has inspired questions and excitement, as well as justifiable concerns among citizens.

I believe the best way to answer citizens’ concerns is to be transparent. We take Principle #1 – that mobile IDs be voluntary - very seriously. Not only should mobile IDs be easy to use and secure, they should be a citizen’s personal choice. With that in mind, we at HID Global have developed a new platform for mobile IDs with the infrastructure to allow a citizen’s identity to be safely provisioned onto a smartphone without fear that it can be copied or hacked. The unique HID goID™ technology goes one step further, enabling citizens to protect their privacy and only release information that is relevant for the specific situation, controlling when and how much information is to be shared or made available to someone requesting to see their license.

With goID™, HID Global is, in effect, changing the conversation about how citizens can and should interact with law officers, government offices, and even their favorite retail store or bank, and therefore creating greater balance between public safety and personal privacy. If you’d like to join that conversation, I invite you to post a comment or opinion on LinkedIn here. We’ll be glad to answer any questions you may have or discuss your thoughts on this topic.