Verifying your identity is something we all have to do fairly regularly, but it soon could look very different under a new voluntary national digital ID.
A national digital ID would - if implemented properly - clamp down on those risks. Here's what you need to know about it.
What is the Australian national digital identity and how would it work?
A national digital identity is a project that was first proposed – but not implemented – by the previous federal Coalition government, and is something the current Labor government is looking to introduce.
In short, it's a system that would allow Australians to quickly and easily identify themselves without needing to provide "points" of identity through existing documents like passports, licences and bills.
"A digital ID would usually be an application in a phone or computer that stores a mathematical representation of an individual that uniquely identifies them, without the possibility of reverse engineering their personal information, such as an address or date of birth," Dr Philip Bos, a security expert and founder of privacy protection software company BlueKee, told 9news.com.au.
"One way the scheme would work is via an app that is opened using the person's biometrics and sending an ever-changing, long mathematical code that identifies one to the other – the user and the business/government agency.
"No personal data would ever need to be transmitted or stored."
Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher said the system will initially be regulated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) before a government body specifically focused on digital regulation is introduced.
Why create a national digital identity? What are the benefits?
In short? Security.
"The current system is plagued by identity theft, fraud, and a lack of control over personal data," Bos said.
He said current methods of proving identity, in which businesses and other service providers demand too much information, create a "honeypot of data" for hackers to target.
"Currently, when a business requires only proof of age, they ask for much more, such as an address and copying your physical driver's licence," he said.
"This 'oversharing' is an unnecessary privacy breach, and dangerous regarding identity fraud, and even physical security.
"Why risk divulging your address to unknown parties, who don't need it for the business transaction being undertaken?"
Conversely, by proving your identity through a digital ID instead of by providing licence and passport details, it means organisations wouldn't be storing that information – so if there is a data breach or hack, you wouldn't be at risk of identity theft.
Gallagher said a digital ID would give Australians more control over their private information.
"What we are doing is citizen-centred," she told the AFR Government Services Summit in late July.
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"It is about securing your information and protecting your information, and ensuring that when that information is shared, it's done under a regulated system."
Former NSW Customer Service and Digital Government Minister Victor Dominello is pushing for the introduction of a digital ID in his new role on the Tech Council of Australia board, again citing security benefits.
"[A] fit-for-purpose digital ID would give more control to the individual on what information they share and for how long, significantly enhancing privacy and security settings" he wrote on LinkedIn.
When will the national digital identity be introduced?
Gallagher is hopeful the system will go live midway through 2024.
"Potentially mid-next year," she said when pressed for a launch date at the AFR summit.
"In many ways, what we're doing is enshrining in legislation a system that's unregulated now.
"We've got over 10 million people using myGov ID, states and jurisdictions are developing their own systems as well.
"So I think from the everyday person's point of view, we've got the system it's just not regulated and not in a shape that will allow us to drive it forward and give the interoperability and the economy-wide benefits that come from having a national system.
"But we're very committed to it."
She the project already has cabinet approval and hopes to have an exposure draft in September before a bill is put to parliament by the end of the year.
Would the national digital ID be compulsory in Australia?
No. Gallagher said the system will be voluntary.
"It's really about you having control as citizens," she said.
"Control of their information that allows them to access government systems in a very easy, secure, voluntary and efficient way."
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