Public Still Unsure What They Want from Digital Identity
There is no doubt that the move from traditional means of identity authentication to digital identities is bringing major benefits of convenience to citizens and consumers, but public acceptance is not global, as these two surveys show.
Japanese My Number ID Card
My Number was introduced in 2016 in order to streamline government services related to taxes, social security and disaster response. The number of organisations entitled to use your My Number is strictly limited by law to national and local administrative organisations and select private entities.
The government recently announced plans to abolish the current system of health insurance cards in autumn 2024 and switch completely to using My Number ID cards.
The results of a survey on attitudes toward the My Number Card by Kioichō Strategy Institute Inc 1 in mid-October show that 68.2% of respondents understood fully or to some extent the national identification system and the basics of the card itself. Among respondents, 59.4% said they have a My Number Card, which roughly corresponds to the 55.7% of Japanese as a whole, or 70.11 million people, who have been issued a card. By contrast, 18.4% of respondents said that they had no intention of obtaining a card.
Although the use of My Number Cards to verify health insurance status was introduced in October 2021, only 3.3% of the respondents had registered and were using the IDs in lieu of standard health insurance cards, while 35.3% had registered but not yet used the card or had not found medical institutions where it could be used.
As a means of promoting the My Number Card scheme, the government is conducting a campaign to give card holders up to ¥20,000 worth of My Number Points that can be used for shopping and other purposes. The campaign seems to be having an effect, with 56% of respondents that have cards saying they have received points. However, when asked if they have used their My Number Card for purposes such as identification or applications to government agencies, only 29.9% said they have, suggesting that it will take more time for the cards to gain acceptance.
Travellers want biometric ID
The trade association of the world’s airlines, IATA, ran a passenger survey 2 to identify trends in what people expect from their flights.
It found that 75% of travellers would rather use biometric ID than passports or boarding passes when going through flight gates and border control. The survey also found that over a third of all passengers have now used some form of biometric identification.
The survey did uncover some challenges around data, with over 50% of passengers saying they are concerned about data breaches, data sharing and data storage.
‘Travel during COVID-19 was complex, cumbersome and time consuming due to government-imposed travel requirements. Post-pandemic, passengers want improved convenience throughout their trip. Digitalization and use of biometrics to speed up the travel journey is the key,’ said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety and Security.
If we are to draw any conclusions from these two surveys, which present two very different stories on the take-up of digital identities, it is that users are more likely to accept digital IDs where the benefits of convenience and speed are at a premium, but even then, the issue of data security remains an impediment.
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