Article | The infrastructure of identity: the influxes of a digital identity as an application of DPI |

The infrastructure of identity: the influxes of a digital identity as an application of DPI

How are digital identity solutions being developed in a digital public infrastructure (DPI) context? What DPI parameters impact on a digital identity? How do architectural decisions (centralized, decentralized, federated) and technology decisions (such as blockchain) impact the functioning of these systems? To answer these questions, Data Privacy Brasil has prepared the booklet “The Infrastructure of Identity: the impacts of a digital identity as an application of DPI”.

With the digitization of various aspects of life, the development of DPI applications has become one of the main issues in Brazil and abroad. This is because, just as there is public investment in the construction of physical infrastructure, such as the building of streets, roads and railroads, there is an increasing need to implement DPI so that digitalization processes are thought out and governed in the public interest.

Because its aim is to rebuild and improve the foundational structures of a wide variety of organizations, the development of a DPI can involve various players and create exponential results for different sectors, such as finance, health, commerce and society as a whole.

In response to the demand for DPI solutions, a first challenge is to formulate identity applications in this digital environment. This is because, while the DPI provides the necessary structural basis for the operation of digital systems and services, these systems can only function if it is possible to identify the beneficiary of the applications in a secure and convenient way. Furthermore, it is common for some of the relationships established in the digital environment to imply or become part of the identity of the person using digital infrastructure applications.

The concepts and parameters of DPI and digital identity also result in complexities for the implementation of fundamental rights and freedoms. To illustrate, one issue is the forms and consequences of sharing personal data, since this ungoverned flow can affect the autonomy and free development of people’s personalities. This is one of the points explored in the booklet.

This booklet has been designed as a resource so that actors in the identity ecosystem can recognize the foundations, applications and functionalities of a digital identity in the context of DPI. The booklet organizes a diffuse mosaic of the role of identity in an DPI, based on examples, in order to shed light on the main key points for this application of the infrastructure to promote fundamental rights.

The booklet is part of the project “Citizen Architectures in Digital Identity”, which aims to map the intersection between digital identity and data protection in a context of developing a public digital infrastructure, including the participation of other actors beyond the public authorities. It is in this context that Data Privacy Brasil aims to understand the opportunities for advocacy and governance in DPI.

 Are you interested in the connection between digital identity and IPD? Visit our booklet for more details!

Have a good read!