"Electronic Identity for Europe": Moving From Problems to Solutions

Electronic Identity (eID) is the backbone of modern communications and transactions in the digital world, as well as a key driver for the growth of the EU economy and the completion of the Digital Single Market. The latter, in effect, can only be accomplished when citizens from one Member State (MS) can easily and unobtrusively access services and use applications, including signing electronically, from any other Member State. Despite the implementation of different identity management systems (IMS), the numerous political declarations and initiatives in this area, the development of various research projects and eID technologies, the discussion on the necessary legal means through which to create an interoperable pan-European eID has not yet taken place. In addition, the processing and management of electronic identities is regulated – at the EU level - through principles, rules and concepts "borrowed" from different EU legal instruments (Data protection, eSignatures and Services Directives being the most relevant ones). As such, one of the main challenges posed to European electronic Identity is of a legal nature. In this context, the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), within the framework of the 2011 LSPI Conference organized a workshop – entitled "Electronic Identity for Europe" – devoted to the legal framework that is necessary to set in place in order to accompany and enforce the already existing technological answers.Â

Governance Models for Interoperable Electronic Identities

Current implementations of electronic identity in Europe are rather diverse; they include state-driven identity management frameworks as well as private sector frameworks and different forms of public-private collaborations. This diversity may represent a major challenge for the deployment of information society services addressed towards the European internal market. This raises the question: How can we achieve interoperability of electronic identities across Europe, and potentially beyond Europe’s borders? This paper argues that the interoperability of electronic identity could be governed by a multi-stakeholder governance framework that brings together different parties with interests in the provision and use of electronic identities. Such a governance framework could, for example, consist in designing and operating a portal with common functionalities that allows interoperable authentication across multiple domains and contexts. Inspiration for the governance of such a portal could come both from existing successful implementations of electronic identity and from multi-stakeholder institutions that have proven useful in Internet governance.

Electronic Identity in Europe: Legal challenges and future perspectives (e-ID 2020)

This deliverable presents the work developed by the IPTS eID Team in 2012 on the large-encompassing topic of electronic identity. It is structured in four different parts: 1) eID: Relevance, Le-gal State-of-the-Art and Future Perspectives; 2) Digital Natives and the Analysis of the Emerging Be-havioral Trends Regarding Privacy, Identity and Their Legal Implications; 3) The "prospective" use of social networking services for government eID in Europe; and 4) Facial Recognition, Privacy and Iden-tity in Online Social Networks.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Towards a European eID Regulatory Framework: Challenges in Constructing a Legal Framework for the Protection and Management of Electronic Identities

Electronic Identity (eID) is a key driver for the growth of the EU economy and the completion of the Single Digital Market. Despite the proliferation of identity management systems, the various political declarations and initiatives in this area, the plethora of research projects and the wide array of advanced eID technologies, the creation of an encompassing, interoperable, pan-European eID scheme has not yet been accomplished. One fundamental reason for such state-of-affairs is the inadequacy of the current EU legal framework. In this context, the paper identifies a number of legal gaps and barriers in the EU legal framework that are arguably hindering the creation of a full-fledged pan European eID. Through such examination, the article underlines that an appropriate regulation regarding eID on a European level is lacking. Current EU law does not yet present a specific and appropriate legal framework for the management of digital identities, regulating the latter through principles, rules and concepts "borrowed" from different EU legal instruments and national laws. After identifying the legal gaps and barriers that current EU law poses to eID, the article presents a number of legal proposals aimed at embedding electronic identity into the EU regulatory framework: the principle of user-centricity, the principle of anonymity and pseudonimity and the principle of multiple identities, along with the principles of identity portability, unlinkability and negotiation, among others. The idea is to reflect upon a series of legal principles that could lay the foundations for a European eID regulatory framework. The article, in this manner, underlines the importance of protecting the value and the interest of (electronic) "identity" in the EU legal framework.JRC.J.3-Information Societ