In the US, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will this summer launch a feature allowing digital access for the key identification format, the Social Security number.
This will be happening via online accounts dubbed, “My Social Security” and the digital card. This is considered by some observers as “the first step” toward the digital ID – or, by those opposed to such massive centralization of personal data, as the first step on a slippery slope.
SSA is promoting the move as a modernization of the service, with the word “convenience” inevitably used to justify the change – “streamlining” employment verification and financial onboarding processes, and access to government services listed in this context.
Other than significantly upping the game as far as future mass surveillance goes, digital ID is consistently drawing criticism for security reasons, namely, for assembling a large amount of the most sensitive personal information in a single place.
