FIDO Standards Take Root in EU’s Emerging Digital ID Infrastructure

The FIDO Alliance’s authentication standards are steadily becoming a cornerstone in Europe’s digital identity landscape, as highlighted in recent reports by two key EU organizations, ENISA (European Union Agency for Cybersecurity) and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute).

As IDnow senior architect Sebastian Elfors details in a blog post for FIDO, the recent ENISA report, “Digital Identity Standards”, recognizes FIDO’s high maturity levels and recommends its standards for two-factor authentication. This endorsement follows the FIDO Alliance’s white paper from April 2023, outlining FIDO’s compatibility with the proposed eIDAS2 regulation and its potential within the EUDI Wallet infrastructure.

ETSI’s technical report, “Analysis of selective disclosure and zero-knowledge proofs applied to Electronic Attestation of Attributes”, further elevates FIDO’s prominence by detailing its integration into the EUDI Wallets via the W3C WebAuthn protocol. This integration, developed by David Chadwick of Kent University, enables users to selectively share personal attributes, enhancing privacy and user control.

The practical application of FIDO standards is evident in the deployment of FIDO2 for an eIDAS eID scheme by the Norwegian trust service provider Buypass, now used in Norway’s healthcare sector, and the Czech domain register CZ.NIC’s identity provider MojeID, which received recognition from the Czech ministry of interior. These implementations underscore FIDO’s capability to meet the rigorous requirements of eIDAS compliant identification solutions.

The trajectory of FIDO within the EU’s digital identity framework signals a shift towards more secure, efficient, and user-centric methods of authentication. With its increasing recognition and deployment, FIDO’s role in future EUDI Wallet implementations and Large Scale Pilots across the EU is poised for significant expansion.

IDnow, Elfor’s employer, is an identity verification technology firm based in Munich that places a strong focus on compliance with European regulations like the eIDAS (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) directives. It joined the FIDO Alliance in 2019.

Source: FIDO Alliance

–

(Originally published on Mobile ID World)