In brief: In digital identity, security is not a product feature but the product itself — therefore, the required level of trust must be present from the start, not built up later.
The German digital wallet is currently discussed primarily in terms of timelines and feature scope – yet in this infrastructure, security is not a product feature but the product itself. The high level of trust required by eIDAS must be a prerequisite for productive launch, not a later expansion stage.
A digital wallet differs fundamentally from other applications: while missing features can be added later, missing trust is far harder to repair. The wallet is intended to centralize the most sensitive credentials of individuals – identity documents, driver’s licenses, official and private certificates. Whoever provides this infrastructure manages not just data, but trust.
This leads to a clear consequence for development: the security architecture must not follow the political timeline, but must precede it. The high level of trust under eIDAS is not the goal of a future expansion stage, but the entry condition for productive operation. Citizens must be able to trust that their identity is protected before they use the wallet – not afterwards.
Equally central is actual control over one’s own data. The added value of modern digital identities lies in proving information selectively and with data minimization: whoever must confirm their age should be able to prove adulthood without disclosing date of birth, address, or other personal data. Digital identity therefore means less data exchange, not more.
A robust trust framework with open standards and clear governance is indispensable. Citizens, authorities, and enterprises must be able to understand who issues digital credentials, who is permitted to verify them, and what rules apply. Only in this way does a long-term scalable and trustworthy ecosystem emerge. Successful identity programmes in other countries demonstrate: security and user-friendliness are not contradictions – user-friendliness emerges only when trust exists.
The digital wallet will prove itself not by how many features it offers at launch, but by whether people are willing to entrust it with their identity. That is why security must be the foundation from day one – not the next expansion stage.
Source: www.it-daily.net · Published 11 June 2026
Lumi AI News — AI-assisted curation in accordance with Art. 50 EU AI Act. Paraphrasing and classification by Lumi News Pipeline v1.6.5.