Highlights from Identity Week, Amsterdam

This year, Identity Week Europe moved its base from its traditional home of the ExCel Centre in London to RAI in Amsterdam (13-14 June). In addition to over 200 exhibitors, 3,000 attendees and 71 start-ups from 93 countries there was a full programme of conference presentations.

Here are some highlights from the most popular sessions at the conference.

Keily Blair, Chief Strategy and Operations Officer, OnlyFans

OnlyFans is a social media and networking platform and Keily’s presentation addressed the company’s deployment of document capture and liveness detection, along with what it means to be a global business investing in secure age verification software in different countries.

Keily also said that her background as a lawyer and her personal interest in data privacy motivates her to make sure that OnlyFans gets the balance right when it comes to data privacy and security. OnlyFans has partnered with global and regional age verification providers to provide a secure platform for verification and then, once the ID has been verified and accepted or rejected, the deletion of the provided data.

Ms Blair explained that the transparency between OnlyFans and both the creators and fans who use the platform significantly reduced the number of bad actors operating on the platform and enabled the company to share meaningful data with law enforcement when necessary.

Kai Zenner, Head of Office and Digital Policy Advisor, EU Parliament

The use of AI in Europe is hotly debated, and the broader subject of Kai Zenner’s keynote address was the ethical and legal implications of using AI to read biometric information through facial identification applications.

Zenner offered an overview of the responsibility of policymakers in ensuring personal privacy while enforcing security. The European Parliament is working on a piece of legislation called The AI Act, which aims to set regulatory guidelines regarding the use of AI in member states. In mid-June, the legislation moved toward plenary adoption and a part of the act included regulations and prohibitions for the use of Remote Biometric Identification (RBI).

Mr Zenner has been instrumental in coordinating cross-party efforts regarding AI and biometric identification and brought a summary of his work to share with attendees.

He spoke on the importance of balancing risk and privacy with greater AI adoption in the bloc.

He also explained the capabilities of AI for biometric identification using both positive and negative examples to give an overview of the spectrum of perspectives expressed by the MEPs involved in the legislation. Between law enforcement applications, seamless borders, and the rights enumerated in the GDPR legislation, there was much to discuss and much that the European Council and European Commission will have to discuss with the European Parliament during the upcoming discussions about the AI Act, Remote Biometric Identification, and private data.

Michiel van der Veen, Director of Innovation, Netherlands Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) – the National Office for Identity Data (RvIG)

The National Office for Identity Data (RvIG) is responsible for the management and governance of the identity data of the citizens of the Netherlands. This includes the assignment and maintenance of the unique identity number given to each citizen so they can access public services. Under the eIDAS regulation, the Netherlands is working to implement a digital identity wallet that allows all Dutch citizens to utilise public services with their government-recognised digital ID.

Michiel van der Veen explained that the Netherlands is investing in the development of its own wallet so the country may set high standards in terms of privacy, security, user friendliness and inclusion. An in-country wallet also allows the Dutch government to evaluate the impact on citizens, businesses, and public sector organisations.

It is Dutch policy that all the systems within the Netherlands be open-source, unless there’s a valid reason not to do so. This open-source approach to the Dutch identity wallet promotes public trust and transparency, key pillars in the Dutch vision for identity.