DT to provide age check component of EU wallet that could be the thin end of the privacy wedgeDT to provide age check component of EU wallet that could be the thin end of the privacy wedge

“EU Digital Identity Wallets will provide a safe, reliable, and private means of digital identification for everyone in Europe,” states the EU website explaining the rationale and merits of the thing. “Every Member State will provide at least one wallet to all its citizens, residents, and businesses allowing them to prove who they are, and safely store, share and sign important digital documents.”

The deadline for rolling these wallets out is some time next year but that hasn’t stopped the likes of Italy from getting ahead of the game. On the surface, an app that makes it easier for individuals to make the most out of whatever the EU offers to them is a great idea. So long as it’s not the only way to access those services, people will be free to install and use it or not, however they see fit.

DT has long been a keen contributor to transnational digital ID initiatives and it certainly wasn’t going to miss out on the fun this time. In partnership with Scytáles it’s providing the European Commission with the technology required to make the EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW) a reliable source of age verification.

“With secure identities, we are giving EU citizens back their lost digital sovereignty,” said Ferri Abolhassan, CEO of T-Systems. “The technology confirms that someone really is who they say they are. An easy logging in without passwords for online citizen services, banking transactions or travel - simple and secure. In Germany, we are already providing successful secure healthcare services in this way.”

“Being the technology provider for the EUDIW positions us as the ideal partner for creating a solution that meets all the high standards required for the EU wide age verification, “said Scytáles CEO Konstantin Papaxanthis. “We’re thrilled to have been awarded the contract by the EU, together with T-Systems, and are proud to see our technology recognized.”

The main stated purpose of age verification is, of course, the protection of children from stuff that’s unsuitable for them. But, as we saw with the UK Online Safety Act, thinking of the children can be used as the thin end of the wedge for broader restrictions. Additionally, if the EU makes the EUDIW the only accepted form of age identification across the bloc, and then insists all digital services ask for age verification, then it has effectively mandated it for all EU citizens via the back door.

Privacy is addressed on the EUDIW website, stressing the following:

That may well be true initially, but what’s to stop the EU from moving the goalposts once it has effectively made the app compulsory? “More than half of those with statutory health insurance will have a digital identity from Deutsche Telekom in future,” declares the DT press release. “Under the Digital Care and Nursing Modernization Act (DVPMG), statutory health insurance companies are obliged to introduce secure digital identities.”

If implemented properly this EUDIW could be a really positive thing. It could encourage a whole new level of engagement between the complacent, aloof EU and its citizens. You never know, it might even make it more accountable. But if history is anything to go by, the opposite could well turn out to be the case, with it being used as a tool to monitor and control individuals. If that’s not its ultimate intention, the EU should do everything it can to communicate as much to its understandably jaded populace.