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Digital identity and public digital systems

Digital identity and public digital systems provide the means for people and organisations to prove who they are and access services online. They underpin social protection, financial inclusion and emergency assistance. Digital Public Infrastructure stewards this page for the Nexus Consortium.

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01Contents

Digital identity and public digital systems in six parts.

In this dossier6 parts
  1. 01The methodWhat digital identity and public digital systems covers
  2. 02Reference practiceDigital identity is guided by inclusion and security principles
  3. 03In systemic risk workIdentity as the gate to services
  4. 04Applied inPlatforms that apply this method
  5. 05StewardshipWho maintains this page
  6. 06SourcesWhere this page’s references lead
02The method

What digital identity and public digital systems covers.

  1. 01

    Core methods

    identity proofing; authentication protocol design; privacy impact assessment; federated identity architecture; registry management; inclusion analysis.

  2. 02

    Data and instruments

    civil and population registers; authentication logs; service uptake records; user surveys; audit reports.

  3. 03

    Validation

    Systems are tested for accuracy of matching, resistance to fraud and accessibility. Independent audits review privacy and security controls.

  4. 04

    Limits

    Exclusion errors can deny services to vulnerable groups. Centralised systems create attractive targets and single points of failure.

  5. 05

    Use in risk decisions

    Digital identity systems determine how quickly aid and payments reach people after shocks. Their failure or misuse can amplify social and economic harm.

03Reference practice

Digital identity is guided by inclusion and security principles.

ReferenceWhat it sets
Principles on Identification for Sustainable DevelopmentInclusion, design and governance
W3C Verifiable CredentialsInteroperable credential data model
NIST SP 800-63 Digital Identity GuidelinesIdentity assurance levels
04Process

How the process runs.

Process

Digital identity and public digital systems: Incident handling, CSF 2.0

CSF 2.0 has six Functions to address concurrently, in no implied order; this walk-through picks outcomes from Detect, Respond, Recover, Identify and Govern.

  1. 01 Detect

    1. 01Detect: adverse event analysis (DE.AE)DatasetPotentially adverse events are analysed to detect cybersecurity incidents. Information is correlated from multiple sources.
    2. 02Declare and triage (DE.AE-08, RS.MA-02)GateIncidents are declared when adverse events meet the defined incident criteria. Incident reports are triaged and validated.

  2. 02 Respond

    1. 03Respond: incident analysis (RS.AN)ModelInvestigations establish what has taken place and the root cause. Records of the investigation keep their integrity and provenance.
    2. 04Respond: incident mitigation (RS.MI)Step · Independent reviewerActivities prevent expansion of an event and mitigate its effects. Incidents are contained and eradicated.
    3. 05Respond: reporting and communication (RS.CO)StepResponse is coordinated with internal and external stakeholders as laws, regulations or policies require. Stakeholders are notified.

  3. 03 Recover

    1. 06Recover: incident recovery plan execution (RC.RP)StepRestoration is performed to restore availability. The integrity of backups and other restoration assets is verified before use.

  4. 04 Improve and govern

    1. 07Identify: improvement (ID.IM)StepImprovements come from evaluations, tests, exercises and operations. Incident response plans are set, shared, maintained and improved.
    2. 08Govern: oversight (GV.OV)Decision · Independent reviewerRisk management results inform and adjust the risk strategy. Leadership is responsible and accountable for cybersecurity risk.

Neutral outline of a published external standard or method, from its issuing body. Not a record of operation. Nexus does not perform, certify or approve any step shown. A gate or decision belongs to the party the source names. The six Functions are Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover.

05In systemic risk work

Identity as the gate to services.

When social protection, payments and health records rely on one identity system, its failures exclude people from all of them at once. Assessment covers enrolment coverage, error rates in authentication, grievance redress and the legal basis for data use.

  • Measure false rejection rates by population group.
  • Provide offline and assisted fallback.
  • Limit data collected to the purpose.
  • Applications on Digital Public Infrastructure and Registry.
06Applied in

Platforms that apply this method.

07Stewardship

Who maintains this page.

Digital Public Infrastructure stewards digital identity and public digital systems: it keeps this description current and reviews how the method is applied across the platforms.

08Sources

Where this page’s references lead.

The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.

09Questions

Questions and answers.

Why does one institution host every method page?
GCRI hosts the STEM Commons so that each method has one canonical description. Platforms link to it rather than repeat it, which keeps definitions consistent.
How do I suggest a correction to a method page?
Write to the integrity concern form with the passage and the reason.
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