Supermarket Giant Woolworths Supports Digital ID in Australia

In this photo illustration a man holds a phone displaying a valid Australian digital COVID-19 vaccine certificate in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 14, 2021. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Major supermarket giant Woolworths has thrown its support behind legislation that would formalise a digital identity in Australia.

Woolworths said it is “supportive” of measures that promote “enhanced use of digital ID services.” The company said it is keen to offer digital ID for customers “as soon as we can safely and securely do so.”

“A Digital ID program could reduce our requirement to obtain and hold identity-verification documentation for 385,000 Woolworths Mobile customers, 90,000 new team members annually, and customers who lodge a claim against one of our 565,000 home, landlord, pet, or life insurance policies,” the company said in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry on Dec. 22.

“A Digital ID could speed this process and improve the customer and team member experience. It would also reduce the risk to individuals of hundreds of thousands of documents being held on file.”

The Digital ID Bill 2023 (pdf), introduced to the Senate in late November, seeks to provide individuals with “secure, convenient, voluntary and inclusive” ways to verify identity in online transactions with both government and business.

Australians can already use a “digital ID” to connect with MyGov, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) Centrelink, and Medicare.

However, the digital ID legislation would broaden this scope to state and territory governments and eventually the private sector, an explanatory memorandum released by the government (pdf) states.

Woolworths also said, “We are supportive of measures to promote enhanced use of Digital ID services.”

“These platforms can, in the right circumstances, remove the need for individuals to share identity documents with businesses.”

Supermarket Giant Keen to See Program Expanded

Further, Woolworths indicated it backs the government accelerating legislation to broaden the digital identity and is keen to offer the service to customers.

“While we support the minister having rule-making power to include new services over time, we would encourage broad application from the outset, including for organisations in the private sector,” the company said.

“We would welcome the opportunity to work with the Commonwealth on testing safe and secure API integrations to ensure they are simple and intuitive for organisations to adopt.”

The company also said it would back moves to “increase trust in the Digital ID system. To underpin consumer and business trust in Digital ID, we support a robust accreditation process and the addition of clear and practical safeguards.

“We would also seek clarity on duration for which we would be required to keep tokens provided through Digital ID processes, noting legal obligations to retain identity data for set periods of time.”

Westpac And NAB Also Back Digital ID

Australian major bank Westpac also provided support for the digital ID in a submission to the inquiry.

“Westpac welcomes the government’s plan to facilitate the widespread adoption of digital ID use in Australia through the implementation of a voluntary digital accreditation scheme,” the bank said (pdf).

“The parliament’s consideration of digital identity legislation comes at an important point. After a series of high profile cyber-related incidents, measures to further protect the identity credentials of Australian customers is rightfully of paramount importance.”

Westpac said the move to “some form of digital identity” verification is needed for economic growth, security, and productivity.

The bank said a robust digital identity framework would improve privacy protections for consumers and lower the amount of private information stored by companies.

A woman walks into a regional branch of Westpac bank in Albany, Western Australia, on Nov. 22, 2023. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

The National Australia Bank also expressed support for a digital ID system and said private sector providers should have access “sooner” to the same opportunities as government-issued identity sources.

“NAB sees the development of a fit-for-purpose Digital ID ecosystem as a critical to progressing Australia’s digital economy,” the bank said.

“NAB strongly believes the best way for a functional and well-used Digital ID ecosystem to be developed is collaboratively between government and the private sector.”

However, the bank raised concerns about the “definition” of identity in the bill and said there are scenarios where only part of an identity may need to be verified, rather than all details.

The Senate Economic Legislation Committee is due to report by Feb. 28.

The committee received 97 submissions by the deadline of Jan. 19, after the bill was introduced to the Senate in late November.

Digital Rights Watch raised concerns that digital ID could be used for “mass surveillance” and law enforcement.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan also expressed concern the government was trying to rush through the legislation “without proper scrutiny” during parliamentary debate in November.

Who Regulates the Digital ID?

The Digital ID Bill 2023 brings in an accreditation scheme to enable entities—including state governments and corporations—to provide digital ID with oversight from the digital ID regulator.

The current regulator is set to be the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which would have the power to accredit entities to provide digital ID.

“This Act establishes an accreditation scheme for entities providing digital ID services,” the Digital ID Bill 2023 (pdf) states.

“The Digital ID Regulator (which is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) may, on application, accredit certain kinds of entities as accredited attribute service providers, accredited identity exchange providers, accredited identity service providers or entities that provide, or propose to provide, services of a kind prescribed by the Accreditation Rules.”

Accredited services would need to comply with privacy safeguards, which build on the Privacy Act 1988. A civil penalty could apply if privacy safeguards are breached, the proposed law states.

The draft legislation says the Digital ID Regulator and the Information Commissioner could then take enforcement action against “accredited entities and other entities.”