Key Points
- Trust Exchange provides a verification “token,” which has been described as a sort of digital “nudge.”
- The verification process could be used in areas such as applying for a job, proving age or renting accommodation.
- A pilot of “TEX” could go live early next year.
Australians could soon have more control over the data they share with businesses and services thanks to a new identity verification system unveiled by Government Services Minister Bill Shorten.
Trust Exchange, or TEx, will store sensitive data centrally and provide “tokens” to companies or services requesting identification, to guarantee their authenticity or identity.
Shorten said the system, which he described as “brand-new and world-leading”, would make the sharing of personal information “safer and more reliable”.
How would this work?
Unveiling the plans during a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Tuesday, Shorten gave several examples of how the process could work.
If you book a hotel, TEx could be used to “digitally shake hands” with your MyGov account to verify the identification held there.
Shorten said this would eliminate the need to hand over a driver’s license or passport to be copied into a form and reduce the risk of this information being stolen.
Shorten also gave the example of a young person going to a club and using TEx to prove their age without having to show ID – again, to avoid any possibility of fraud.
“It’s just a digital nudge from the government: you are who you say you are,” he said.
He said that while the token would be useful to the company seeking to confirm a person’s identification, it would have no value to hackers because it contained no personal information.
Will it be mandatory to use TEx?
Users from both sides should adhere to the system.
When might TEx be available?
Shorten said TEx was in the “proof of concept stage” and had an investment of $11.4 million.
The government hopes to have developed the system and will “consider its options” for pilot projects by January 2025.
Additional reporting from the Australian Associated Press.
