The crucial milestones of France’s digital identity journey have resulted from a long history of failure and half-baked developments, demonstrating the real timeline it takes to build a working wallet from a modest state of digitalisation.
Whilst the race to meet the deadline for EU Digital IDs has produced notable front-runners such as Estonia, not all member states are as digitally advanced to succeed in either early wallet prototypes or verifiable credentials inside the wallets.
Whilst facial recognition was not a right fit for France, applications were submitted in February 2024 to develop a digital driving licence and e-ID, presenting benefits for relying services, issuers, and companies across France who want more proof of ID and KYC.
France is involved in the largest consortium for digital IDs, working through the wallet’s interoperability with existing infrastructure and cross-border to facilitate six services – e-government services, phone lines, driving licences, rental cars, remote electronic signatures, and e-subscriptions.
