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The digital ID scheme would initially be regulated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Information Commissioner, with a view to eventually establish a new governing body.

The draft bill package includes strong updates to security requirements for how organisations store people’s IDs, as well as the reporting of data breaches and suspected identity fraud.

There is a four-phase rollout.
1 - establishing the legislation and accreditation of private and public providers.

2 - adding state- and territory-issued IDs to the scheme for use with federal government services.

3 - bringing recognition of the digital ID into the private sector. This would, for instance, allow you to use your digital ID to apply for a bank loan without having to provide your identity documents or copies.

4 - allowing accredited private sector digital IDs to help verify you when accessing certain government services.

It is claimed that for the general public, the voluntary scheme would come in the form of a smartphone app, requiring biometric information (such as a face print) to be unlocked.

To prove your identity to a participating organisation, you would log into the organisation’s website and select MyGovID as your verification method.

The public is being led to believe by those with vested interests (privacy protection software company BlueKee) that Australia needs a national digital ID scheme due to flaws with the current analogue identification system.

These flaws include verification being accepted by the untrained human eye, and that personal data is currently unable to be securely stored due to original documents being transmitted online.



Unresolved MyGovID security flaws

In releasing the draft bill, the government has highlighted a voluntary national digital identity – the MyGovID – which is only currently used by 6 million Australians and 1.3 million businesses.

Governments in Australia also have a poor track record of securing our information.

While the government argues that digital IDs will eliminate privacy concerns, some privacy campaigners are concerned about the security of the program and the privacy implications.

They point to previous government botches of digital roll-outs, including the Robodebt scandal and the My Health Record debacle.

Many of the concerns also focus on the transition from analogue to digital IDs, pointing to the high instance of cyber crime targeting Australians.

According to Webber Insurance, 14 of the 44 recorded data breaches between January to June this year were reported by government authorities. These included the Department of Home Affairs, and the Northern Territory, Tasmania, ACT and NSW governments.

This is on top of data breaches involving the Australian Tax Office, National Disability Insurance Scheme and MyGov, as reported by the ABC last year.

More worryingly, the privacy act has a loophole which allows some state and government authorities to remain exempt from compulsory data breach reporting. As such, we don’t know just how many government data breaches have occurred.


The major criticism is that this system creates a honey trap for hackers

Even if the government carries out its end of the bargain securely, the proposed scheme would still only be as secure as your phone. Having a weak password, losing your phone, or having your phone hacked could lead to data being compromised.

Also, streamlining distributed identification systems in this way will create an irresistible target for hackers. In cybersecurity this is called a honeypot, or honey trap.

It’s clear the draft bill has a number of issues, and getting it wrong could lead to harm at an even larger scale.

Additionally the Labor government had an extremely short consultation period doesn’t provide much public confidence a fit-for-purpose solution will be created.



On the 30 November 2023 Dreyfus and co. released the following Media Release

Quote
Joint media release

The Albanese Government has introduced new legislation in the Senate today to strengthen and expand Australia’s Digital ID System.

Digital ID is a secure, convenient, voluntary, and inclusive way for Australians to verify their ID online. Digital ID is not a card, it’s not a unique number, and it’s not a new form of ID.

Digital ID allows people to verify their ID when interacting online without having to repeatedly provide copies of their most sensitive documents, such as passports, birth certificates and driver licences.

The Government is investing $145.5 million to support the Digital ID system and to implement independent regulation and oversight of the system.

The $145.5 million over 4 years from 2023–24 includes:

- $67.0 million over 2.5 years from 2023-24 for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to perform interim regulatory functions under the Digital ID legislation from 1 July 2024.

- $56.0 million over 4 years from 2023–24 to the Attorney-General’s Department for the continued operation of the Identity Matching Services, and a further $3.3 million to enhance the Credential Protection Register to enable the Government to respond to future data breaches and support and protect victims of identity crime (as previously announced as part of the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy).

- Funding for key priorities including ICT updates to myGovID, communications to improve individual and business awareness and understanding of Digital ID, supporting the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to prepare for its privacy oversight role of Digital ID and enabling the Department of the Treasury to support the ACCC to deliver its Digital ID functions and scope options for a data and digital regulator.

The Digital ID Bill will put in place the legislative framework to create an economy-wide Digital ID system in Australia.

The Bill will strengthen an Accreditation Scheme for Digital ID service providers and enable the expansion of the Australian Government Digital ID System to states and territories and, in time, the private sector.

The Minister for Finance, Senator Katy Gallagher, said the government’s vision is for a national, economy-wide Digital ID system, that allows Australians to do the things they need to do online, more easily and securely.

“Improving safety online is a priority for us and legislation will ensure strong independent oversight is in place to support the expansion of the Australian Government Digital ID System from mid-2024.

We’ve spoken with business, community and privacy groups to ensure the Bill will deliver the privacy safeguards, accreditation options and consumer safeguards they expect,” Minister Gallagher said.

Digital ID is a critical capability and is one of the ways the Government is keeping Australians safe and responding to the increase in third party data breaches, alongside the National Strategy for Identity Resilience, funding for the ACCC’s National Anti-Scam Centre, introduction of the Identity Verification Services Bill, continued reforms to the Privacy Act and the Government’s Cyber Security Strategy.

The Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, said the Government’s approach strikes the right balance between convenience and maintaining strong standards of privacy and security.

"Australians rightly expect greater protections, transparency, and control over their personal information when they provide it to trusted organisations," Mr Dreyfus said.

The Assistant Treasurer, Stephen Jones, said Digital ID is the safer way for Australians to prove who they are online.

“Whether it’s thwarting a scammer who is pretending to be your bank or securing your online tax accounts so criminals cannot access it. Digital ID will help secure Australians money and their information.”

Link
ministers.ag.gov.au/media-centre/strengthening-australias-digital-id-system-30-11-2023

For further information on Digital ID See Link
www.digitalidentity.gov. au[/qupte]