Digital identification on a global scale

There is perhaps a corner of Slovakia where Big Brother's gaze does not rest - for now....

By Nicole JAMES for The Epoch Times- Source : https://www-epochtimes-fr.translate.goog/lidentification-numerique-a-lechelle-mondiale-2655246.html

Australia's digital ID card is expected to come into effect on December 1, 2024.

Furthermore, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested the colossal sum of 1.27 billion Australian dollars (more than 783 million euros) in the digital identification project.

This latest injection of funds includes a considerable sum of 200 million Australian dollars (123 million euros) dedicated to digital public infrastructure, that is to say digital identity documents, databases of the civil status and everything that follows.

The announcement was included in the Gates Foundation's sixth annual Goalkeepers Report, a feel-good piece that says we're all doomed if we don't work to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals by to 2030.

Universal digital identity by 2030

One of these goals, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9, is particularly bold: universal legal digital identity by 2030, including birth registration.

The idea? Ditch the dusty old analog systems to register the billion people without ID. Let's go digital instead, because apparently existing systems are as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle.

The Gates Foundation isn't just throwing money around.

It supports MOSIP, the popular new open source digital identity platform. In 2019, its Goalkeepers Data Report presented biometrics as the savior of equitable distribution of resources in developing countries.

Digital identity in Iceland

Let's pop over to Iceland, where Australian expat Leon Hill is tweeting about the wonderland of digital identity. In this country, everything from banking services to medical records is linked to digital identity.

No digital ID card? Forget basic services like electricity, telephone or even buying a house.

And if privacy is your concern, too bad: everything is public, from your address to your license plate.

Hill suggests, however, that dual passports or becoming an e-resident in Estonia or the Palau Islands could allow you to bypass some of these digital constraints.

A digital nomad in Estonia?

But let's not pretend that a digital nomad visa to Estonia or the Palau Islands will give you the keys to the kingdom. It's not about citizenship, just long stays in the digital world .

Estonia, whose Prime Minister hopes for the dissolution of the Russian Federation, may not be your first choice for a comfortable hideout.

And do you remember the Danske Bank scandal? Yes, again Estonia, whose banking sector has lost credibility faster than you can say “money laundering”.

So, can we trust our money to a country whose financial integrity has been questioned?

What about the Palau Islands? Don't get carried away: residency in Palau doesn't allow you to reside there, so don't park your sandals on their sandy shores.

And would you trust your hard-earned money to banks in a place where even Palau International Bank Limited received a cold shower from the Financial Institutions Commission?

No license, no peace of mind — it's a bit fishy, ​​right?

The blocking of Canadian truckers

Now the Australian government, with its octopus arms deployed under various international tax and investment agreements, can, if it wishes, get its hands on your financial account data in places as as far away as Estonia and Palau.

What's stopping them from freezing your assets if you dare to express your disagreement?

Remember Canada's cold response to the truckers' protest?

If governments become friendly, your bank account could be frozen too.

Are you moving to sunny Greece?

Are you planning to buy a villa in Greece to obtain a residence visa?

This country is a golden destination for residents, at least until August, when property prices will rise from 250,000 euros to 400,000 euros, a colossal sum.

But even in sunny Greece, you'll have to dance to their digital music, complete with biometric ID checks, just to buy a little piece of paradise.

Here in America, we say that the digital identity card will not be compulsory. But haven't we heard this refrain before?

As Justice Michael Kirby pointed out during the Hawke government's Australia Card adventure in the 1980s, "once an identity card system is put in place, the risk exists that the database is enriched and that more and more civil servants seek to have access to it in the name of efficiency.”

So, can you escape it?

There is perhaps a corner of Slovakia where Big Brother's gaze does not rest — for the moment.

For those of us who stand for free speech and unfettered access to our own funds, perhaps it's time to suggest that Elon Musk start a bank. I would entrust my nest egg there, wouldn't you?