REFLECTIONS ON THE EUROPEAN DIGITAL IDENTITY PROJECT IN LIGHT OF THE DIGITAL COVID CERTIFICATE AND THE SELF-SOVEREIGN IDENTITY MOVEMENT

ABSTRACT

What is anticipated from the European Digital Identity project is being able to prove possession of a COVID-19 vaccination certificate without submitting any personal data. The introduction of this project through the draft amendment of the Regulation on electronic identification and trust services (eIDAS) has established for the first time the creation of a Digital Identity Wallet that could be used as a means of identification and a container of identity credentials, without depending on centralised files or tracking who they are presented to, with the premise of security and privacy of personal data by design as a fundamental objective. This vision, which is strongly influenced by the self-sovereign identity movement, together with the creation of the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) on which the European Self-Sovereign Identity Framework (ESSIF) depends, is reflected in the amendment of the eIDAS Regulation, and, indirectly, in the EU Digital COVID Certificate. As a result of the pandemic, the need to create a reliable, secure, interoperable system with full respect for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to certify health in relation to the disease led to the adaption of the European Digital Identity project to the COVID certificate. The opportunity presented by the study of the technical functioning of the certificate means that the assessment of improvements to be introduced can be transferred to the European Digital Identity project, including the blockchain resource as an alternative to the traditional public key infrastructure (PKI). In this respect, the certificate represents a firm step towards a decentralised digital identity model to ensure that individuals have full control over their data. © 2022, Escola d'Administracio Publica de Catalunya. All rights reserved.