The Limits of Control - (Governmental) Identity Management from a Privacy Perspective

The emergence of identity management indicates that the process of identification has reached a stage where analog and digital environments converge. This is also reflected in the increased efforts of governments to introduce electronic ID systems, aiming at security improvements of public services and unifying identification procedures to contribute to administrative efficiency. Though privacy is an obvious core issue, its role is rather implicit compared to security. Based on this premise, this paper discusses a control dilemma: the general aim of identity management to compensate for a loss of control over personal data to fight increasing security and privacy threats could ironically induce a further loss of control. Potential countermeasures demand user-controlled anonymity and pseudonymity as integral system components and imply further concepts which are in their early beginnings, e.g., limiting durability of personal data and transparency enhancements with regard to freedom of information to foster user control.