Mobile First Digital Identities and Your Privacy

Alexis Hancock Tuesday, July 28, 2020: 2000. "Mobile First" is more than a web developer's mantra chanted from 2010. It also means that many people now visit websites and use services from their mobile devices more than on laptops and desktops. Rece...

Alexis Hancock

Tuesday, July 28, 2020: 2000. "Mobile First" is more than a web developer's mantra chanted from 2010. It also means that many people now visit websites and use services from their mobile devices more than on laptops and desktops. Recently, several proposals and published models for establishing big parts of our lives through our mobile devices have been discussed. Big proposals include mobile driver's licenses, mobile health credentials, and other forms of digitized documentation such as university degrees. Recently published and proposed standards include the W3C's verifiable credentials data model and the ISO's 18013-5 mobile driver's license compliance. This talk discusses the privacy concerns that surround these ideas, test cases, and the trajectory of digitized identification.

The aspirations of these technologies are utopian. However, we are in a reality that makes digital identities subject to centralized power structures. Crafting who we are online can look different if these technologies become standard in our everyday interactions, especially if these interactions include employers and health care. These scenarios affect the most vulnerable among us, the people who don't get the chance of anonymity online. Engaging in these conversations helps bring to light concerns that may not be considered, and helps to craft a better digital future.