[Theme] 5-Trust Management for Digital ID

Theme 5: Trust Management for Digital ID that can cross borders

Proposing change from 7/26 meeting. In the realm of Government Digital ID (aka credential ecosystems)... Theme 5 should publish the necessary guidance & tools that Ecosystem Builders can FIRST focus on sovereign requirements that shape the internal behavior of their wallet, verifier, issuer, and agentic participants. THEN they can better map a subset of technical and non-technical requirements for cross-border mapping. The internal-facing management of participants will build momentum and usage through trust. Create a reference architecture Ecosystem Builders and Operators work from with guides to mapping across Ecosystems.

David Kelts

Proposes that Theme 5 be rewritten as below (see also attached slide deck
TIDA_ Slide 5 Trust Management (adk).pptx
).

Summary

Trust is built at home first and then is expected to cross borders. All participants in an ecosystem contribute to the values and behavior that builds trust in the ecosystem.

Problem Statement

Every region and organization builds its Digital ID ecosystem independently, its own trust anchors, issuance rules, privacy stance, and assurance levels. All participants within a jurisdiction must trust the system for it to gain momentum and operate. Often, Digital ID also needs to cross a border or organizational boundary. There is no common way to recognize another ecosystem’s Digital ID, so users re-prove their identity from scratch, are left out, or protection varies.

Proposed Approach

Define a reference model for expressing what a Digital ID ecosystem guarantees and how Ecosystem Builders will shape trust. The reference model will allow ecosystems to be compared on the same terms and for mutual-recognition that allows one ecosystem to trust a credential from another. No single global authority. Sovereign ecosystems interoperate the way treaties recognize foreign degrees or licenses without merging underlying systems.

Deliverables

1. Task 1: A common vocabulary and reference model for what an ecosystem guarantees — system transparency, issuer & accepter accountability, assurance level, revocation, freshness, data protection — enabling trust to develop internally and across ecosystems
2. Task 2: A mutual-recognition and equivalence framework, including compensating controls for when two ecosystems' guarantees don't fully match
3. Essential Coordination: Fido Alliance, Global Platform, and orgs that will certify Wallets

Open Questions

• How do we preserve sovereignty — data residency, legal control, inclusivity, regional social values & expectations — while enabling cross-border trust?
• Surveillance capitalism and account/password proliferation seen on the Internet will weaken user trust in Digital ID. How can we ensure privacy?
• Should recognition be bilateral (country-to-country agreements) or mapped onto one shared reference & discovery framework?
• Can we operate a pilot? Is that one credential type (e.g., professional license, education credential, age verification) across two jurisdictions?
• We must represent ALL wallet providers equanimously and fairly. All should be involved. How do we reach out to all platform, government, and independent wallet providers?

Related Work

Open ID Federation for Wallets
Dozens of sessions at GDC Day 2 (notes will become available)
Ecosystem Community Groups
SIDI-Hub Trust Framework Decomposition work

TIDA_ Slide 5 Trust Management (adk).pptx

Related Themes

Discussion