Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added(5) To support the competitiveness of European businesses, online and offline service providers should be able to rely on digital identity solutions recognised across the Union, irrespective of the Member State in which they have been issued, thus benefiting from a harmonised European approach to trust, security and interoperability. Users and service providers alike should be able to benefit from the same legal value provided to electronic attestations of attributes across the Union. Harmonised digital identity framework has the potential to create economic value by providing easier access to goods and services, by significantly reducing operational costs linked to identification and authentication procedures, for example during the on-boarding of new customers, by reducing damages related to cybercrimes, such as identity theft, data theft and online fraud, and by promoting digital transformation of the Union’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

RemovedRecital 31 a (new): (31a) Strong user authentication covers sectorial use cases that mandate strong authentication using two factors. For example, strong user authentication supports strong customer authentication requirements for account login and initiation of transactions in the field of payment services.

Added(5a) A fully harmonised digital identity framework would contribute to the creation of a more digitally integrated Union, taking down the digital barriers between Member States and empower the Union citizens and Union residents to enjoy the benefits of digitalisation while increasing transparency and the protection of their rights.

RemovedRecital 36: (36) In order to avoid fragmentation and barriers, due to diverging standards and technical restrictions, and to ensure a coordinated process to avoid endangering the implementation of the future European Digital Identity framework, a process for close and structured cooperation between the Commission, Member States and the private sector is needed. To achieve this objective, Member States should cooperate within the European Digital Identity Board. The European Digital Identity Board should propose a comprehensive technical architecture and reference framework, a set of common standards, including recognised existing standards, and technical references and a set of guidelines and descriptions of best practices covering at least all aspects of the functionalities and interoperability of the European Digital Identity Wallets including eSignatures and of the qualified trust service for attestation of attributes as laid out in this regulation. In this context, Member States should also reach agreement on common elements of a business model and fee structure of the European Digital Identity Wallets, to facilitate take up, in particular by SMEs in a cross-border context.

Added(5b) In order to encourage the digitalisation of the Member States’ public sector services and to ensure wide up-take of the European digital identity framework and the European Digital Identity Wallet (EDIW), this Regulation should support the use of the ‘once only’ principle in order to reduce administrative burden, to support cross-border mobility of citizens and businesses, and to foster development of interoperable e-government services across the Union. The cross-border application of the ‘once only’ principle should result in citizens and businesses not having to supply the same data to public authorities more than once, and that it should also be possible to use those data only at the request of the user for the purposes of completing cross-border online procedures. The implementation of this Regulation and of the ‘once-only’ principle should comply with all applicable data protection rules, including the principle of data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality, necessity, proportionality and purpose limitation. The ‘once-only’ principle should be applied with the explicit consent of the user.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(6) Natural and legal persons who own person identification data should be considered to be Digital Identity subjects. Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725 and Directive 2002/58/EC or the European Parliament and of the Council apply to the processing of personal data in the implementation of this Regulation. Therefore, this Regulation should lay down specific safeguards to prevent providers of electronic identification means and electronic attestation of attributes from combining personal data from other services with the personal data relating to the services falling within the scope of this Regulation. This Regulation further specifies the application of principles of purpose limitation, data minimisation, and data protection by design and by default to specific-use cases, without prejudice to Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1, Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point (d): (d) lays down the conditions for the issuing of European Digital Identity Wallets.

Added(6a) EDIWs should have the function of a privacy management dashboard embedded into the design, in order to ensure a higher degree of transparency and control of the users over their data. This function should provide an easy, user-friendly interface with an overview of all relying parties with whom the user has shared data, including attributes, and the type of data shared with each relying party. It should allow the user to track all transactions executed through EDIWs, with at least the following data: the time and date of the transaction, the counterpart identification, the data requested and the data shared. That information should be stored even if the transaction was not concluded. It should not be possible to repudiate the authenticity of the information contained in the transaction history . Such a function should be active by default. It should allow users to easily request to a relying party the immediate deletion of personal data pursuant Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and to easily report to the competent national authority where a relying party is established if an unlawful or inappropriate request of data is received without leaving the EDIW.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(6b) Zero knowledge proof allows verification of a claim without revealing the data that proves it, based on cryptographic algorithms. The EDIW should allow for verification of claims inferred from personal data identification or attestation of attributes without having to provide the source data, to preserve the privacy of the user of the EDIW.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point a, Article 2 – paragraph 1: 1. This Regulation applies to electronic identification schemes that have been notified by a Member State, to European Digital Identity Wallets and to trust service providers that are established in the Union.

Added(7) It is necessary to set out the harmonised conditions for the establishment of a framework for EDIWs to be issued directly by a Member State, under a mandate from a Member State or recognised by a Member State, which should empower all Union citizens and Union residents as defined by national law to securely request, receive, store, combine and selectively share data related to their identity and request deletion of their personal data in a user-friendly way and under the sole control of the user. All data should be stored by default on the user’s device unless the user explicitly choses otherwise. This Regulation should reflect shared values and uphold fundamental rights, strong ethical aspects, legal safeguards and liability, thus protecting democratic societies and citizens. Technologies used to achieve those objectives should be developed aiming towards the highest level of privacy and security, user convenience, accessibility, and wide usability and seamless interoperability. Member States should ensure equal access to and voluntary use of digital identification to all their nationals and residents. Member States should not, directly or indirectly, limit access to public services or public-funded services to natural or legal persons who decide not to use a EDIW and should develop and ensure free availability of alternative solutions for such individuals. Private relying parties using EDIWs to provide services should not deny those services or create disadvantageous conditions to consumers not using EDIWs to access their services.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(7a) Where an EDIW is issued directly by a Member State, the competent authority concerned is directly responsible for the issuance and management of the EDIW, using its own resources. Where an EDIW is issued under a mandate from a Member State, the competent authority concerned has authorised a specific organisation to issue and manage the EDIW on its behalf on the basis of a public procurement procedure based on transparent, open and fair competition process in which all interested parties have the opportunity to participate and the best candidate is selected based on specific objective criteria and evaluation process. Where an EDIW is issued and managed independently but recognised by a Member State, the competent authority concerned has selected a specific organisation that has already developed an EDIW that complies with this Regulation. It is not necessary for the issuer and the manager of an EDIW to be the same entity.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a, Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 2: (2) ‘electronic identification means’ means a material and/or immaterial unit, containing person identification data and which is used for identification and authentication for an online and offline service;

Added(8) In order to ensure compliance within Union law or national law compliant with Union law, relying parties should register their intent to rely on EDIWs in the Member State where they are established. That will allow Member States to protect users from fraud and prevent the unlawful use of identity data and electronic attestations of attributes as well as to ensure that the processing of sensitive data, like health data, can be verified by relying parties in accordance with Union ▌ or national law. The registration and approval processes should be cost-effective and proportional to the risk. The registration should include the data that the relying party intend to request, the intended use of and the reasons for the need of such data, per each different category of services provided by the relying party. Relying parties should provide reasons for their request complies with data minimisation principles.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(9) All EDIWs should enable users to electronically identify and authenticate online and offline across borders for accessing a wide range of public and private services. Without prejudice to Member States’ prerogatives as regards the identification of their nationals and residents, EDIWs can also serve the institutional needs of public administrations, international organisations and the Union’s institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. Offline use would be important in many sectors, including in the health sector where services are often provided through face-to-face interaction and ePrescriptions should be able to rely on QR-codes or similar technologies to verify authenticity. Relying on the level of assurance "high" for identity proofing, EDIWs should benefit from the potential offered by tamper-proof solutions such as secure elements, to comply with the security requirements under this Regulation. When on-boarding into EDIWs, users should obtain the qualified electronic signature, free of charge and by default, without having to go through any additional administrative or technical procedures. ▌ To achieve simplification and cost reduction benefits to persons and businesses across the Union , including by enabling powers of representation and e-mandates, Member States should issue EDIWs relying on common standards and technical specifications to ensure seamless interoperability and to adequately increase the IT security, strengthen robustness against cyber-attacks and thus significantly reduce the potential risks of ongoing digitalisation for citizens and businesses. Only Member States’ competent authorities can provide a high degree of confidence in establishing the identity of a person and therefore provide assurance that the person claiming or asserting a particular identity is in fact the person he or she claims to be. It is therefore necessary for the issuing of EDIWs to rely on the legal identity of citizens, other residents or legal entities. Reliance on the legal identity should not hinder the possibility of EIDW users to access services through the use of pseudonyms, where there is no legal requirement for legal identity for authentication Trust in the EDIWs would be enhanced by the fact that issuing and managing parties are required to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the highest level of security that is commensurate to the risks raised for the rights and freedoms of the natural persons, in line with Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a a (new), Article 3 – paragraph 1– point 3: (aa) point 3 is replaced by the following: / (3) ‘person identification data’ means a qualified electronic attributes composed of a set of data establishing the identity of a natural or legal person, or a natural person representing a legal person to be established;';

Added(9a) EDIWs should include a functionality to generate freely chosen and user managed pseudonyms, as a form of authentication to access online services provided, including services provided by very large online platforms as defined in Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(9b) Member States should develop harmonised approaches to enable the technical possibility for persons with limited legal capacity, such as minors and for persons with no legal capacity, to use EDIWs, trust services and end-user products.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point b a (new), Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 4 a (new): (ba) the following point is inserted: / (4a) ‘user’ means a natural or legal person, or a natural person representing a legal person using trust services, electronic identification means and European Digital Identity Wallets, provided according to this Regulation;

Added(9c) Natural and legal persons should be able to authorise EDIWs of third-parties to perform certain actions on their behalf, such as by means of powers of attorney or delegations of authority for specific transactions to specific employees or subcontractors in the case of a company or to parents acting on behalf of minor children.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(10) In order to achieve a high level of security and trustworthiness, this Regulation establishes the requirements for EDIWs. The conformity of EDIWs with those requirements should be certified by accredited public or private sector bodies designated by Member States. Relying on a certification scheme based on the availability of commonly agreed standards with Member States should ensure a high level of trust and interoperability. Certification should in particular rely on the relevant European cybersecurity certifications schemes established pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/8816. Such certification should be without prejudice to certification as regards personal data processing pursuant to Regulation (EC) 2016/679

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point b b (new), Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 4 b (new): (bb) the following point is inserted: / (4b) 'identification' means the act of unequivocally associating a natural or legal person with its person identification data;

Added(10a) The transparency of EDIWs and the accountability of their issuers are key elements by which to create social trust in the framework. All issuers of EDIWs should make the source codes available to the public for its scrutiny, in particular for privacy and security. Issuers and managers of EDIWs should be subject to controls and liabilities similar to those of qualified trust services providers.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(11) EDIWs should ensure the highest level of security for the personal data used for identification and authentication irrespective of whether such data is stored locally, in decentralised ledgers or on cloud-based solutions, and taking into account the different levels of risk. Using biometrics to identify and authenticate should not be a precondition for using EDIWs, notwithstanding the requirement for strong user authentication. Biometric data used for the purpose to authenticate a natural person in the context of this Regulation should not be stored in the cloud without the explicit consent of the user. Using biometrics is one of the identifications methods providing a high level of confidence, ▌ when used in combination with ‘what you know’ factor. Since biometrics represents a unique characteristic of a person, the use of biometrics should not be obligatory. Furthermore the use of biometric data should be limited to specific scenarios pursuant to Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, and requires organisational and security measures, commensurate to the risk that such processing may entail to the rights and freedoms of natural persons and in accordance with Regulation 2016/679. Storing information from EDIWs in the cloud should be an optional feature only active after the user has given explicit consent. Where EDIWs are issued on a personal electronic device of the user, their cryptographic material should be, when technologically possible, stored in the secure elements of EDIWs.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point b c (new), Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new): (bc) the following point is inserted: / (5a) ‘zero knowledge proof’ means any cryptographic method by which a relying party can validate that a given statement based on the electronic attestation of attributes held in the user’s European Digital Identity Wallet is true, without conveying any data related to those electronic attestation of attributes to the relying party;

Added(11a) EDIWs should be secure-by-design. They should implement advanced security features to protect against identity theft, data theft, denial of service and any other cyber threat. This should include state-of-the-art encryption and storage methods that are only accessible to and decryptable by the user, and establishing end-to-end encrypted communication with other EDIWs and relying parties. Additionally, EDIWs should require secure explicit, and active use confirmation for operations.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(11b) The use of EDIWs as well as the discontinuation of their use are rights and the choice of users. Member States should develop a simple, user-friendly, speedy and secure procedure for the users to request immediate revocation of validity of EDIWs. For the situations when users are in possession of the device, this functionality should be designed as an integrated feature of EDIWs. A user-friendly and speedy remote mechanism should be established for cases where users do not hold the device in their possession, such as in the case of theft or loss. Upon the death of the user or the cessation of activity by a legal person, a mechanism should be established to enable the authority responsible for settling the succession of the natural person or assets of the legal person to request the immediate termination of EDIWs.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point i, Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 42: (42) 'European Digital Identity Wallet' means a product and service that operates like electronic identifications means and that allows the user to store and manage identity data credentials and attributes linked to her/his identity, to provide them to relying parties on request, to create qualified electronic signatures and seals, and to use them for identification and authentication, online and offline, for accessing public and private service in accordance with Article 6a;

Added(11c) In order to promote uptake of EDIWs and the wider use of digital identities, Member States should not only show the benefits of the relevant services, but also, in cooperation with the private sector, researchers and academia, develop training programmes aiming to strengthen the digital skills of their citizens and residents, in particular for vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities, older persons and persons lacking digital skills.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(12) To ensure that the European digital identity framework is open to innovation, technological development and future-proof, Member States should be encouraged to jointly set-up ▌ sandboxes to test innovative solutions in a controlled, time limited and secure environment in particular to improve the functionality, protection of personal data, security and interoperability of the solutions and to inform future updates of technical references and legal requirements. This environment should foster the inclusion of European Small and Medium Enterprises, start-ups and individual innovators and researchers as well as relevant industry stakeholders, while improving compliance and preventing the placing on the market of solutions which infringe Union law on data protection and IT security.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point i, Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 43: (43) ‘attribute’ means a characteristic or quality of a natural or legal person or of an entity, in electronic form;

Added(13) Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 of the European Parliament and of the Council7 strengthens the security of identity cards with enhanced security features by August 2021. Member States should consider the feasibility of notifying them under electronic identification schemes to extend the cross-border availability of electronic identification means.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(14) The process of notification of electronic identification schemes should be improved and accelerated to promote the access to convenient, trusted, secure and innovative authentication and identification solutions and, where relevant, to encourage private identity providers to offer electronic identification schemes to Member State’s authorities for notification as national electronic identity card schemes under Regulation (EU) No 910/2014.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point i, Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 50: (50) ‘strong user authentication’ means a means of confirming user's identity based on the use of at least two authentication factors categorised as user knowledge, possession and inherence that are independent, in such a way that the breach of one does not compromise the reliability of the others, and is designed in such a way to protect the confidentiality of the authentication data;

Added(15) Streamlining of the current notification and peer-review procedures will prevent heterogeneous approaches to the assessment of various notified electronic identification schemes and facilitate trust-building between Member States. New, simplified, mechanisms should foster Member States’ cooperation on the security and interoperability of their notified electronic identification schemes.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(16) Member States should benefit from new, flexible tools to ensure compliance with the requirements of this Regulation and of the relevant implementing acts. This Regulation should allow Member States to use reports and assessments performed by accredited conformity assessment bodies or voluntary ICT security certification schemes, such as certification schemes to be established at Union level under Regulation (EU) 2019/881, to support their claims on the alignment of the schemes or of parts thereof with the requirements of the Regulation on the interoperability and the security of the notified electronic identification schemes.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 a (new), Article 4 – paragraph 2: (3a) Article 4(2) is replaced by the following: / “2. Products and services that comply with this Regulation shall be permitted to circulate freely in the internal market.”

Added(17) Service providers use the identity data provided by the set of person identification data available from electronic identification schemes pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 in order to match users from another Member State with the legal identity of that user. However, despite the use of the eIDAS data set, in many cases ensuring an accurate match requires additional information about the user and specific unique identification procedures at national level. In order to ensure a high-level of trust and security of personal data of natural persons, different technical solutions should be considered, including the use or combination of various cryptographic techniques, such as cryptographically verifiable identifiers. To further support the usability of electronic identification means and implementation of ‘once-only’ principle, this Regulation should require Member States to take specific measures to ensure a correct identity match in the process of electronic identification exclusively for the cross-border access of public services that requires the identification of the user by law. In particular, this requirement should not be read as a call for a centralised identity register in the Union for natural persons and reliance would be placed on decentralised national registers. The use of person identification data or a combination of person identification data, including the use of unique and persistent identifiers issued by Member States or generated by EDIWs is important for ensuring that the identity of the user can be verified. National law should be able to require the use of unique and persistent identifiers that are specific to particular sectors or relying parties. EDIWs should be capable of storing those identifiers and disclosing them where requested by the user. For the same purpose, this Regulation should extend the mandatory minimum data set and require the use of a unique and persistent electronic identifier for legal persons in accordance with Union law.

Removed(Regulation (EU) 910/2014)

Added(17a) When accessing public and private services across borders, the authentication and identification of EDIW users should be possible. The receiving Member States should be able to unequivocally identify users, upon their request, in those cases where their identification is required by law and to proceed to identity matching. In order to ensure a high level of trust and security of personal data, different technical solutions should be considered, including the use or combination of various state-of-the-art cryptographic techniques and technologies, such as cryptographically verifiable identifiers, unique user-generated digital pseudonyms, self-sovereign identities, and domain-specific identifiers.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(18) In accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council8, persons with disabilities should be able to use EDIWs, trust services and end-user products used in the provision of those services on an equal basis with other users.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 5 – title: Pseudonyms in electronic transactions

Added(19) This Regulation should not cover aspects related to the conclusion and validity of contracts or other legal obligations where there are requirements as regards form laid down by Union or national ▌law. In addition, it should not affect national form requirements pertaining to public registers, in particular commercial and land registers.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014

Added(20) The provision and use of trust services are becoming increasingly important for international trade and cooperation. International partners of the EU are establishing trust frameworks inspired by Regulation (EU) No 910/2014. Therefore, in order to facilitate the recognition of such services and their providers, implementing legislation may set the conditions under which trust frameworks of third countries could be considered equivalent to the trust framework for qualified trust services and providers in this Regulation, as a complement to the possibility of the mutual recognition of trust services and providers established in the Union and in third countries in accordance with Article 218 of the Treaty.

RemovedArticle 1 – paragraph 1 – point 4, Article 5 – paragraph 1: Without prejudice to the legal effect given to pseudonyms and self-sovereign identities under national law, their use in electronic transactions shall not be prohibited.

Added(21) Issuers of EDIWs may need access to specific hardware and software features of smartphones, such as parts of the operating system, secure hardware (secure element, SIM etc.), NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Aware and biometric sensors. Such features are under the control of operating system and equipment manufacturers. Therefore this Regulation should build on Union acts ensuring contestable and fair markets in the digital sector. In particular, it builds on Article 6(7) of the Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which requires the providers of core platform services designated as gatekeepers ▌ to allow business users and alternative providers of ▌ services provided together with, or in support of, core platform services, free of charge, effective interoperability with, and access for the purposes of interoperability to, the same operating system, hardware or software features , regardless of whether those features are part of the operating system or are available to or used by that gatekeeper when providing such services.

RemovedRegulation (EU) No 910/2014