What is identity?
To be honest I don’t have the answer but if I were to take a stab at telling you I would describe my identity by saying, “I’m a proud Brazilian immigrant, I’m a tech nerd, I am a sister, I’m a silly bar dancer, I’m a woman, I’m a ball buster of corporate men, I seek self awareness as my biggest power, and I am very curious about everything, I suck at drawing…”
Clearly I “can” answer the question of “What is my identity?”or “Who am I?” in this way, and everyone else can as well. But, this information doesn’t get me very far…What actually is my identity?
I don’t think many of us can truly define identity. This is me sharing with you as I educate myself about this powerful thing that identity and trust really is. Identity is something so personal, yet there are so many definitions of it and use cases for proving it. Telecommunication companies need it, health care needs it, banks and FinTech need it – we all need identity. Knowing who you are dealing with, talking to, or trusting is not an option or luxury, it is a necessity — and Identity is the key to unlock this. Identity needs to become something that transcends conversations about annoying passwords, two factor authentication, biometrics or AI implication on humans.
All this talk about tech, and I am here to talk about the humans.
There are 7.5 billion humans in the world. 2.4 billion of which are considered less fortunate (from poor or rural areas of the world), and about 1.5 billion of whom are over the age of 14, cannot answer the question to the satisfaction of authorities, as to who they are. While they certainly know who they are, like I do above, they are often excluded from property ownership, free movement, and social protection simply because they can’t prove their identity.
Humans have historically tried qualifying, quantifying and identifying things, including themselves. With the advancement of technology, we have built processes and systems as a way of identifying ourselves and others to be able to secure and ensure rightful access, and entitlements given to the rightful humans using these systems or services. We can all relate to the pain and friction that we experience in our everyday life associated with the simple act of proving who we are. From cards, to complicated passwords, usernames, codes or tokens…none of which is actually us.
Welcome to Identity Insider
You’ve heard of the 11:FS team (obviously, you’re on their blog!), they are known for FinTech Insider, InsurTech Insider and Blockchain Insider, but they have never really talked about what literally lives at the center of every topic discussed: the humans in these services and the identity of the people using the technology. I like to think of it as a forgotten superpower that people seem to miss – everyone is building the newest technology product and they forget that they have to track the identity of who that piece of technology actually belongs to. The list of technologies where the identity of the human plays a central and integral role is endless.
The list of technologies where the identity of the human plays a central and integral role is endless.
My name is Bianca Lopes and my current day job finds me as the Chief Identity Officer of a biometric identity trust platform company. I have been given an incredible opportunity to ride the coattails of the 11:FS team and use their platform to share my journey to find the answers to what the hell identity really means. This isn’t just about biometrics, it’s about a bigger pursuit – consider it an education in identity, a topic that touches every single person, every single day, yet most of us, common humans, know literally nothing about it. Identity needs to act as a central topic to all other conversations happening in the world today. But first, we need to answer some questions which I will aim to do in this Identity Insider series.
How does one define oneself?
When I think about identity, I go back to the basics to try and define the word itself. From overly obsessing over our choice of profile pictures on social media to the social groups we are part of, I urge you to join me and embark on a mission to understand what it means to define an identity, and figure out what is the definition of a group or social setting that influences identity. Think of the historians that go back to the Roman empire and say that the definition of a tribe is what constituted order. So maybe the definition of a person’s passport or government ID is what allows a government or a sovereignty to put order into the identifying of people and tracking them. If you think about it, we haven’t changed that much! Even though there is all this technology around the world we still use tangible things to identify ourselves; keys, FOBs, cards, paper, passwords, you name it.
Is identity power? Or is it trust?
Is identity a physical ownership of a thing? Maybe it’s something in the future of a digital world? No matter which way you look at it, your identity is a metaphorical key to unlock things. Think about the news from the other week about having your driver’s license on your phone. What was once a physical plastic card could now live in a digital format, but it still serves the same purpose – it unlocks your ability to drive with a certain level of trust associated to that. This sense of trust of an identity, especially in a digital world is going to become even more valuable as institutions like Fintechs need to verify identities for regulatory purposes. Your access might be granted based on your digital history… but what if it wasn’t you?
Your identity is a metaphorical key to unlock things.
Control and Identify Risk
The ability to control and identify risk is actually something that pre-dates technology. It’s something that humans have always done to survive. Since before civilization we have always “sized up” other humans to determine how much risk they pose to our own well being or even existence. If I know where you stand, I know how to interact with you. However with control, identity has become an all-constricting jacket of labels and pieces of documentation, processes and procedures.
So, when I think about pursuing the truth about what identity really is, I see it more as an ever flowing and changing thing that each of us should be able to control and understand. Context changes risk and should change control. This is where it becomes sad and concerning to me, everywhere I look I see convenience trumping security and privacy. If people don’t understand what their identity really means then how can they protect it?
If people don’t understand what their identity really means then how can they protect it?
What about identifying with all the “things”?
By 2020 it is estimated that each human will own an average of 6.5 devices. As the number continues to grow, how are we supposed to be identified by all these things? How is identity changing for the service provider, the government, and the human being as it becomes more difficult to keep up with knowing what and who you’re interacting with? It comes down to the interoperability of identity and its effect on the fact that passwords, usernames, and pieces of plastic are no longer going to cut it.
How is identity changing for the service provider, the government, and the human being… passwords and usernames are no longer going to cut it.
Biometrics and Identity
It is impossible being the CIO of a biometrics company that discussing biometrics as it relates to identity won’t come into the conversation over the course of this identity series. I’m sure you and I both would rather be ourselves to prove who we are, but it is interesting when I talk to people about biometrics as I get two different reactions; one, and most common, is “that it is kind of creepy”, the other reaction comes from the enthusiasts of gadgets who see the convenience and speed that biometrics offers. Maybe biometrics stands as the key to unlocking you to be you, instead of having to prove who you are…
I don’t have the answers. I’m not an expert. I don’t have an instruction manual or a 10-step process you can just follow. What I will always have is this inherent curiosity and desire to understand. I will write as a human. I will share perspectives and different sides of the same issue. I may even venture too far in the future, but I want to provoke you to think and evoke you to share along the way. Leave your comments, chat with me, give me your opinions, this is just the first of many posts that I have planned so far – so join me on the pursuit of education of what identity really means!
Bianca Lopes is Chief Identity Officer & Speaker at BioConnect. For more information, follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
The post An exploration into identity. Part 1: What is Identity? appeared first on 11:FS.
from 11:FS