Digital wallet plan is a dangerous infringement on privacy

Mandating the use of a State-run digital identity as a pre-condition for holding or using a social media account would represent a profound expansion of government control, write Olga Cronin and Chris Shishak of ICCL

The problems for the Government, by building on a faulty and legally dubious system, are piling up and, in turn, the Government is risking our rights to privacy, data protection and security as it embarks on potentially creating a State surveillance infrastructure. File photo

Governments sometimes require people to identify themselves, but doing so is an exercise of power that should not be introduced lightly.

This requirement when combined with digital technology demands even greater caution as such an infrastructure could pose, accidentally or by design, a range of risks for people’s right to privacy, data protection, anonymity, access to information, freedom of expression, non-discrimination and security.