Every citizen has a right to data management. Especially in our current, uncertain times, citizens need a safe digital identity that enables them to fully control their data, further their digital rights, and guarantee the safety of their digital activities as fundamental prerequisites for their daily functioning in society. While this holds good for all, it is even more important for young citizens.
The upcoming European Union Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet will be a gamechanger for everyone within the European Union, including young citizens. While currently still in its draft phase, the Wallet is to be an EU-wide digital ID system that can be used for both public and private online services. It will be based on the upcoming eIDAS 2 Regulation. Users of the EUDI Wallet will among other things be able to authenticate themselves (prove that they are who they say they are) and receive, store, and share verified personal attributes such as name, age, address, who has parental responsibility for them, and the educational institutions they attend and have attended. Project MDM has written introduction texts to the topic (in Dutch).
My Data Management project
This is why we, Michał Boni, Beata Staszyńska-Hansen, and Onno Hansen-Staszyński, started the My Data Management (MDM) project to explore the opportunities and challenges digital identities in general and the EUDI Wallet in particular offer young citizens. The MDM project’s mission is to inform, educate, and engage young citizens regarding the subjects of digital identities and the upcoming EUDI Wallet. Concretely, the MDM project will create a video library consisting of interviews with key stakeholders, organize participation sessions with young citizens, and publish recommendations to key decision-makers.
Initiator’s track record
In 2018 Beata and Onno decided it is time to take the next step regarding online children’s rights. While they thought that the EU regulations were on target, they were vexed that these remained merely symbolic because of a lack of implementation. They contacted Michał and together they initiated a journey that would lead in 2020 to Pilot Project PPPA-AGEVER-01-2020, endorsed both by the European Commission and the European Parliament. The implementing project euCONSENT was acknowledged in 2022 as one of the pillars of the EU policy on online children’s rights in the Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) strategy.
- Michał is a former Minister of Administration and Digitalization and MEP, and currently a lecturer at the SWPS University and a Martens Centre senior researcher associate.
- Beata is a former journalist and media pioneer, and currently a film director, mediator, and education and participation pioneer.
- Onno is a former journalist and Internet pioneer, and currently a European Commission expert, and an SSI, disinformation, and education pioneer.
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