The World Bank (WB) has issued a policy note revealing that it wants to see the development of what it calls electronic signature (including using biometric authentication) frameworks which include legal recognition and trust.
The purpose of these “key enablers” where it concerns digital transactions, is to facilitate “the emergence of a trusted digital economy” – according to this global (and globalist) financial institution.
Their role is to link people’s identities to online interactions, where electronic transactions, as defined by the WB, cover a vast range of activities. And the WB believes that electronic signatures are a critical component of the digital economy.
We obtained a copy of the note for you here.
The policy note first states that an electronic transaction is a transaction, action, or a set of these, commercial or non-commercial, “and includes the provision of information and/or e-government services.”
According to the policy note, electronic transactions happen in anything from banking, credit, insurance, health, education, commerce, and public services, to the judiciary.
Examples of what electronic signature – the “frameworks” for which the WB is pushing hard – means, are also explained in the document. It could be clicking on a ToS “agree” button, or typing one’s name at the end of an email or message.
The WB paper also states that most electronic signatures in the digital world will have to be verified by people’s identities – digital ones. Only what the WB refers to as the “lowest-trust” electronic signatures should be allowed to go without “some” assurance of identity.
Therefore, “digital ID and electronic signature can be implemented together, with a digital ID credential being linked to, or containing, a signing certificate.”
Another proposal from the policy note is to link this with legal ID systems which “provide for digital verification of attributes and/or digital authentication.”
“Another potential avenue” is how integrating electronic signatures into those ID systems is described, with smartcards and “mobile form factors” cited as having been done “somewhat successfully” so far.
No economy can be considered fully digitized without incorporating electronic signatures, the policy note insists. The WB is resolutely against physical signatures and wants instead these centralized and easy-to-control “frameworks” to substitute interactions between people and move the whole operation online.
The only thing left is to persuade both governments and people that such schemes are trustworthy. That, naturally, is the requirement for wide adoption, and, not a simple problem to solve.
Thus reports talk about the WB recommending approaching it “(not) solely through technology” but also “a combination of legal, procedural, and technical elements.”
