EU-US TTC WG-1 Digital Identity Mapping Exercise Report

Background

Following a successful round of government-to-government technical exchanges earlier this calendar year, in March 2023, the European Commission and the US Government, operating under the auspices of the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) WG-1, publicly committed to undertake a transatlantic mapping exercise with the objective of finding commonalities between the EU and US approaches to digital identity.  

Released today, the jointly authored EU-US TTC WG-1 Digital Identity Mapping Exercise Report provides the preliminary results of an initial mapping centered on the definitions, assurance levels, and references to international standards included across Revision 3 of the NIST Digital Identity Guidelines (Special Publication 800-63, Revision 3) and European Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market.  

Call for Feedback

The next phase of this project will include collecting feedback and selecting potential use cases for transatlantic cooperation that highlight the need for and value of enabling the cross-border use of digital identities. The EC and the US are actively seeking comments from communities with subject matter expertise in digital identity, privacy, human-centered design, and cybersecurity; organizations that have designed or implemented digital identity systems within the EU, the US, or in cross-border contexts; and others with equities related to the topic of digital identity.

The Digital Identity Subgroup is particularly interested in feedback on the following topics:

1. Definitions
   • Additional definitions that could be added to the existing mapping exercise.
   • Any additional context that could be incorporated in the current mapping to clarify when and how certain definitions apply.
      
2. Levels of assurance
   • Feedback on the extent to which the mapping reflects the experiences of individuals and organizations that have overseen or been the subject of real-world implementation.
   • Additional components (i.e., Column A of each tab within the linked mapping exercise spreadsheet) that could be added to the mapping, for instance evidence requirements or allowed authenticators.
      
3. International standards references
   • Additional references that could be added.
   • Which standards individuals and/or their organizations rely on most often, and for what sectors and scenarios.
      
4. Ecosystem gaps and questions
   • If/what gaps exist in technical guidance and standards.
   • If/what gaps exist in the body of knowledge and research related to identity verification; open questions that could be addressed through dedicated joint EU-US research efforts.
   • If/what gaps exist in the market of available identity verification services and technologies.
   • Barriers to cross-border interoperability of identity solutions and processes, such as policies, practical challenges and other factors.
      
5. Use cases
   Input on the most critical use cases that would benefit from transatlantic pre-standardization research cooperation on remote identification, for example:
   • Transportation/travel (digital travel credentials, mobile driving licenses).
   • Financial services (retail payment, e-Invoicing).
   • Health (health records).
   • Education/professional credentials (diplomas, certifications).