Digital ID Goes Global

A visitor takes a picture with his mobile phone of an image designed with artificial intelligence by Berlin-based digital creator Julian van Dieken (C) inspired by Johannes Vermeer's painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring" at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague on March 9, 2023. (Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

Digital ID in Australia is set to kick in on Dec. 1, 2024.

Meanwhile, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has invested a whopping $1.27 billion (US$840 million) into the digital ID kitty.

This latest cash splash includes a nifty $200 million (US$132 million) dedicated to digital public infrastructure—think digital IDs, civil registry databases, and the kitchen sink.

The announcement was tagged onto the sixth annual “Goalkeepers Report,” a cheery little tome that states we’re all doomed unless we hustle to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Universal Digital Identity by 2030

One of these goals, SDG 16.9, is particularly audacious: universal legal digital identity by 2030, including birth registration.

The idea? Ditch the dusty old analog systems for registering the billion people sans ID. Instead, let’s embrace digital—because apparently, legacy systems are about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike.

The Gates Foundation isn’t just throwing money around willy-nilly.

They’re backing MOSIP, the hot new open-source digital identity platform. And back in 2019, their Goalkeepers Data Report was all about biometrics as the saviour for equitable resource distribution in developing nations.

Digital ID in Iceland

Let’s pop over to Iceland, where an Aussie expat, Leon Hill, tweets about the digital ID wonderland. Everything there from banking to your medical records is linked to your digital ID.

No digital ID? Forget about the basics like power, phones, or even buying a home.

And if privacy’s your thing, too bad—everything’s public, from your address right down to your licence plate.

Mr. Hill hints, though, that dual passports or becoming an e-resident in Estonia or Palau might just let you wiggle around some of these digital constraints.

A Digital Nomad in Estonia?

But let’s not pretend that a digital nomad visa in Estonia or Palau hands you the keys to the kingdom. These aren’t citizenships; they’re just long stays in the digital realm.

Estonia, with its prime minister eyeing the breakup of the Russian Federation, might not be your top pick for a cosy hideout.

And remember the Danske Bank scandal? Yep, Estonia again—where their banking sector took a nosedive in credibility faster than you can say “money laundering.”

So, do we feel safe entrusting our pennies to a country that’s had its financial integrity questioned?

Or what about Palau? Hold your seahorses—e-residency in Palau doesn’t actually let you reside there, so no parking your sandals on their sandy shores.

And would you trust your hard-earned cash with banks in a place where even the Palau International Bank Limited got the cold shoulder from the Financial Institutions Commission?

No licence, no peace of mind—seems a tad fishy, doesn’t it?

The Canadian Truckers Freeze

Now, the Australian government, with its octopus arms spread through various international tax and investment agreements, can sniff out your financial account info in places as remote as Estonia and Palau, if they please.

What’s to stop them from freezing your assets if you dare to disagree?

Remember Canada’s chilly response to the truckers’ protest?

If governments buddy up, your bank account could go into deep freeze too.

Moving to Sunny Greece?

Thinking of buying a villa in Greece to snag a residency visa?

It’s the bargain bin of residency—at least until this August when the price tag jumps from €250,000 (US$271,703) to a whopping €400,000 (US$434,000).

But even in sunny Greece, you'll have to dance to their digital tune, complete with biometric ID checks, just to buy a bit of paradise.

Back home, they say the digital ID won’t be mandatory. But haven’t we heard that tune before?

As Justice Michael Kirby opined during the Hawke government’s flirtation with the Australia Card in the ’80s, “Once an ID card system is established, the risk exists that the data base will be enhanced, and that more and more officials will seek access to it in the name of efficiency.”

So, can you opt out?

Well, perhaps there’s a corner of Slovakia where Big Brother’s gaze doesn’t reach—yet.

For those of us championing free speech and unfettered access to our own funds, maybe it’s time to pitch to Elon Musk to start a bank. I'd trust my nest egg there, wouldn’t you?

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.