It is no secret that Singapore is one of the most digitally advanced economies in the world. While the southeast Asian city-state already had a reputation of a sophisticated economy reliant on cutting edge technology, its recent placement as a runner up in IMDs ranking of most digitally competitive countries in the world has only reinforced that claim.
Correspondingly, Singapore is also a global frontrunner when it comes to implementing technology in government services and infrastructure. One of these initiatives is SingPass – short for Singapore Personal Access – which is Singapore’s digital ID system. Through SingPass, government agencies and private service providers are able to digitally validate the citizen’s identity, without having to request individuals to physically provide documentation or to physically sign any documents. To put it under perspective, think of all the times that you had scan your ID or had to provide some sort of proof of identity in order to request a service literally being eliminated. Not to mention the effort saved of having to recall all the thousands of accounts and passwords every time a new account has to be created for a new service. All these extra steps are not needed if providers can refer to a safe and verifiable online ID. In effect, SingPass not only removes a significant portion of friction for customers but also has several other use cases in which its convenience plays a significant role. For instance, the feature was also essential for Singapore’s globally praised Corona strategy: by letting citizens scan a QR code when entering and leaving a store, restaurant, or metro station, authorities could more easily follow infection chains.
In an effort to further increase security and reliability, citizens can also, as of last week, use FaceID for identification in SingPass. By scanning the user’s face, service providers can now verify identity by crosschecking it with ID pictures in SingPass’ database. This cloud-based solution powered by UK’s iProov technology provider not only validates the veracity of the picture but also confirms the person is physically present. In other words, a photo cannot simply be used as a means of authentication, an important feature when thinking of scamming possibilities.
Although the introduction of FaceID additionally removes friction for customers and makes processes leaners for providers, the move has sparked some criticism from privacy advocates, since it is based on sensitive data collection. Nevertheless, the government has countered the skepticism by highlighting that the data is not shared among the parties as well as reinforcing that citizens do not need to necessarily identify themselves with facial recognition, as they could still resort to the analog process for the matter.
Despite being a controversial measure, which some might associate with an Orwellian dystopia, there is little doubt that it brings along significant advantages for both the government, digital businesses, and citizens. In an age where digital services are in demand, having a reliable digital ID is an essential step for a digital economy. For instance, if citizens expect to open a bank account form the comfort of their homes, there needs to be a “privacy cost” being paid for not having to physically prove your identity in a branch.
What is your opinion on the matter? Would you see exchanging convenience and additional security for privacy as a fair trade-off?
Sources
GovTech Singapore, n.d. SingPass. [Online]
Available at: https://www.tech.gov.sg/products-and-services/singpass/ [Accessed 3 October 2020].
IMD, 2020. The IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2020 results. [Online]
Available at: https://www.imd.org [Accessed 3 October 2020].
McDonald, T., 2020. Singapore in world first for facial verification. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.com [Accessed 3 October 2020].
Phillips, T., 2020. Singapore adds face verification to national digital ID service. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nfcw.com [Accessed 3 October 2020].
The Straits Times, 2020. New iPhone feature lets users tap the back of their phones to check in or out with SafeEntry. [Online] Available at: https://www.straitstimes.com [Accessed 3 October 2020].
Thank you for a great post on a very interesting topic!
Personally, I believe that the success of such solution heavily depends on whether citizens trust their government. By design, digital ID potentially enables government to gather significantly more control over their citizens. For instance, citizens who do not support governmental decision could be easily identified and restrained. In the end, trust in such solutions would be different in countries like the Netherlands and countries like North Korea. The aim of “less trusted” governments could then be to develop mitigation strategies to reduce risk of misusing collected data and, consequently, to increase trust of citizens in digital ID solutions. To achieve this, governments may consider implementing social contracts or including independent international organisations in the process.