网红爆料

WASHINGTON 鈥� Over 80 organizations and prominent experts have come together to oppose a new surveillance feature of digital identity systems known as 鈥淧hone Home,鈥� which allows the government to track individuals through their digital driver鈥檚 licenses or other identity documents. Signatories include the 网红爆料, notable privacy and civil liberties groups, as well as academics, state legislators, CEOs of digital identity companies, cryptographers, and other leading experts.

This diverse group of experts issued a today focusing on a vital element of the identity system architecture: Whether it is designed to 鈥減hone home鈥� to the issuer when somebody verifies their identity. Currently, when somebody presents a plastic driver鈥檚 license, that interaction is between the two parties, and the government is none the wiser. But digital driver licenses are being built so that the system notifies the government every time an identity card is used, giving it a bird鈥檚-eye view of where, when, and to whom people are showing their identity. That 鈥減hone home鈥� functionality becomes especially intrusive as people start having to use digial ID online, giving the government the ability to track your browsing history.

鈥淐reating a system through which the government can track us any time we use our driver鈥檚 license is an Orwellian nightmare,鈥� said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the 网红爆料鈥檚 Speech, Privacy, and Technology project. 鈥淭here is a broad consensus among those who work, think, and innovate in the digital identity space that privacy needs to be built in to any digital identity system. This is not a partisan issue and it鈥檚 one states must act on before it鈥檚 too late.鈥�

Digital identity systems threaten to create serious civil liberties problems, including around privacy and accessibility, which is why digital ID systems must make use of all available privacy technologies and architectures 鈥� including but most certainly not limited to the 鈥渘o phone home鈥� highlighted in today鈥檚 letter. The 网红爆料 has also published for state legislatures outlining 12 technical characteristics and policy measures that must accompany any acceptable digital ID system. Unfortunately a including 13 that have already created digital driver鈥檚 license systems, and another 21 that have passed enabling or study legislation.

Identity systems with 鈥減hone home鈥� capability not only create the potential for tracking of people鈥檚 lives and activities 鈥� such as those whose political beliefs certain government officials may not like 鈥� but also make it possible for an abusive government to block people from using their IDs for some or all uses.

The experts are "call[ing] on authorities everywhere to favor identity solutions that have no phone home capability whatsoever, and to prioritize privacy and security over interoperability and ease of implementation.鈥�