Inclusive or invasive? Digital ID stirs debate

A mobile phone SIM card can be a form of a digital identity that users then carry for the rest of their lives.

Digital identity systems are a ”revolutionary” way to provide the world’s most vulnerable with access to essential services, but must protect their privacy, philanthropists, businesses and charities said.

More than one billion people globally have no way of proving their identity, according to the World Bank, which experts say excludes them from basic services such as education and healthcare.