Bill Shorten to unveil 'world leading' digital identity system
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The news: Australians will be able to verify their identity at pubs or with a new employer under a “new and world-leading” digital system set to be introduced.
The context: Government Services Minister Bill Shorten is set to unveil the new system—Trust Exchange, or TEx — during a speech at the National Press Club on Tuesday.
TEx will enable Australians to verify their identity using information already held by the government.
Shorten will explain that, instead of sending copies of their credentials to a new employer, individuals can simply select “verify my identity” via myGov or the government’s Digital ID system.
They will also be able to use a QR code at places like RSLs and pubs, which will send a digital token to the business, confirming the person’s identity, address and age.
Shorten will liken this process to a digital “handshake” between the business and a person’s myGov wallet, with the user receiving a record of the information shared. He will contrast TEx with systems in countries that issue a centralised ID number from birth, describing TEx as a world first that will “provide more privacy and security settings” for users.
What they said: Explaining how a user could access TEx to prove their age at an RSL, Shorten will say: “The token will be a valuable promise to the club, but of zero value to cybercriminals… All that has been exchanged has been a digital ‘thumbs up’ from the government that you are who you say you are.”
The source: Bill Shorten’s National Press Club speech.
