Europeans want federated digital identity

A new survey from Unisys shows that more than half (52%) of Europeans said they are open to adopting federated identification systems to expedite access to online services.Federated identification allows a single electronic identity to be used by citizens across multiple organisations for easy verification and assertion of attributes online.Unisys conducted its Biometrics Study in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and Italy, polling over 3,500 people in Europe and asking their opinions on federated identity, biometric authentication for access to their online accounts and attitudes on sharing personal data.When questioned on the perceived benefits of sharing their biometric data with a federated identity program, 51% cited increased security on their accounts; 41% highlighted “single sign-on” access to multiple accounts, such as those for government, banking and social media; 33% said speedier access to government and banking services; and 28% identified reduced cost.The survey shows that European citizens have an appetite for federated identity but many would need assurances before signing up and sharing their personal data. For example, 59% of respondents said they would demand that organisations explain the security measures they would use to protect their biometric data before sharing it.Unisys global chief security architect Salvatore Sinno said, “In the future, centralised ID services are likely to include a mixture of on-device checks and on-server authentication, where personal biometric data is verified by a service provider. That means service providers need to join forces to win the hearts and minds of consumers, explain what security measures they have in place and how they manage personal data.”

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