Finding a point of agreement to use as the foundation for a strong agreement is essential in any negotiation. One such forum for the discussion of digital ID wallets in the European Union would be open source software, policies, and practises.
The Dutch minister for digitalization, Alexandra van Huffelen, spoke about the need of open source in promoting ID wallets as secure and user-friendly last week while she was in Brussels.
Van Huffelen stated that The Netherlands has reached agreement on the usage of open source in most or all components of a digital ID wallet during an appearance on news outlet Euractiv’s The Tech Brief podcast. Patrick Breyer, a German member of the European Parliament and leader of the Pirate Party, is vehemently opposed to some digital ID proposals (unique personal ID numbers, personal data held by the government, lack of anonymity rights, etc.) that are supported by a sizable portion of the community for digital ID.
Everyone involved in a digital wallet programme gains trust as a result of the transparency. The software is superior to closed-source programmes since anybody may access the source code and make changes. Open source software may be safer for the same reason. According to van Huffelen, it is also more effective. She asserts that she “believes in not being super-naive,” echoing decades of prior justifications for open source. Defense is one of many topics that shouldn’t be covered in programming. But to reject it is a mistake, at least in the civilian sphere.
She asserts that the only obstacles should be those that users put in place. In fact, users should be able to opt out of a digital wallet programme completely. Van Huffelen asserted that the typical person, however, would have some information and characteristics they preferred not to reveal or to communicate with only specific groups and individuals.
