Key points
- Trust Exchange provides a verification 'token', which has been described as a kind of digital 'thumbs up'.
- The verification process could be used in areas such as applying for jobs, proving age or renting accommodation.
- A pilot of 'TEx' could go live early next year.
Australians could soon gain more control over what data they share with businesses and services by using a new ID verification scheme unveiled by Government Services Minister Bill Shorten.
Trust Exchange, or TEx, will hold sensitive data centrally and provide 'tokens' to businesses or services asking for identification, to vouch for their authenticity or identity.
Shorten said the scheme, which he described as "brand new and world-leading", would make sharing personal information "more secure and more trustworthy".
How would it work?
Unveiling the plans during a speech at the National Press Club in Canberra on Tuesday, Shorten gave several examples of how the process might work.
If booking a hotel, TEx could be used to "digitally shake hands" with your MyGov account to verify the identification held there.
Shorten said that would eliminate the need to hand over a driver's licence or passport to be copied into a form and reduce the risk of that information being stolen.
Shorten also gave the example of a young person going to a club and using TEx to prove their age without having to show ID — again, to prevent the opportunity for fraud.
"It's just a digital thumbs up from the government — you are who you say you are," he said.
He said while the token would be of value to the business seeking to confirm someone's identification, it would hold no value for hackers because it contained no personal information.
Will it be mandatory to use TEx?
No.
Users at both ends would have to opt into the system.
When might TEx be available?
Shorten said TEx was in the "proof of concept stage" and has an $11.4 million investment behind it.
The government hopes to have built out the system and will "review its options" for pilot schemes by January 2025.
Additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
