The Ongoing Value of Physical Identity Documents in the Digital Age

Digital transformation affects all areas of life, including identity documents. The debate as to whether physical ID documents should be phased out in favour of fully digital solutions is still continuing, but has recently lost some of its verve, and for good reason. From a security perspective, and from a merely practical viewpoint, for many use cases, physical identity documents remain irreplaceable. They are, and will continue to be, the anchor of trust for establishing a person’s identity.

Combining physical documents with digital capabilities – the so called ’phygital’ solution – offers a stronger, more resilient approach than physical or digital-only concepts. While the convenience and scalability of digital systems appear very attractive, these systems also present new and increasingly complex risks.