Digital identity: towards common European Union / United States terminology
NIST published first draft of comparative chart between US and EU regulatory frameworks on digital identity.
On December 22, 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the US federal institute in charge of establishing technological standards, published an international report draft. It offers a comparative chart of digital identity systems between the United States and European Union.
Drafted by a subgroup of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council, the report aims to define “the technical terminology tied to digital identity in a transatlantic environment.” The first version shows that the two regulatory frameworks use fairly similar versions of most “major concepts” in digital identity, thus paving the way for standardization.
The text nevertheless points to disagreements over the definition of several key concepts, such as “identity” and “signature”. Drafting a common lexicon thus seems achievable, but will require compromise. The NIST will now take note of the commentary and criticism in regard to the report, and should produce a final version in 2024.