Digital identity as part of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) by 2030

UNDP Admin Achim Steiner painted a rosy picture of a future where every person has a "secure digital identity" as part of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) by 2030. According to Steiner, this digital ID will "unlock services that were previously out of reach" for many people. But what he didn't mention is that this digital identity will not only grant access to certain services, but also control what is "closed off to us," as the World Economic Forum so candidly put it.

In Steiner's fantasy world of 2030, a young mother is overjoyed to have received her digital ID, exclaiming "I feel seen" as she gains access to education and healthcare for the first time. But what Steiner is really celebrating is the fact that this digital ID has given the powers that be complete control over this woman's life. With her digital identity, she will be tracked, monitored, and coerced into behaving in certain ways, lest she be denied access to the very services she needs to survive.

The real purpose of digital identity schemes is to make life impossible to live without them, to create a system where individuals are forced to rely on the state and corporations for every aspect of their lives. And with DPI, this control will be taken to new heights, as every service, credential, and document is centralized and connected on an interoperable system. The result will be a dystopian nightmare where humans are nothing more than puppets on strings, with their digital identities serving as the ultimate tool of control.

Steiner's utopian vision of 2030 is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to sell the public on a surveillance state, where every move, thought, and action is monitored and controlled. We must reject this vision and resist the push for digital identity schemes, lest we sacrifice our autonomy and freedom on the altar of convenience and efficiency