Definitions of digital identity are ever-expanding, and hard to describe.

Sometimes it is just used interchangeably with Digital ID.

For the most part, digital identity is the way we are identified in an interconnected world.

It is the sum of all the information that identifies us when we use digital services, systems and tools – whether that’s using an e-passport or a scanning your eye at a refugee camp. It could be the data saved to your online banking record or profile generated through social media platforms.

Every day, we use different digital credentials to travel, do business, access services, and stay connected. Sometimes these take the form of government-issued “national IDs” or “legal IDs”.

Other forms include the IDs issued by private businesses for employees, customers, and vendors.

But a digital identity is not just one individual thing like a card or a number. Nor do we have a single “digital ID”. It is a growing network of credentials, linked databases, and “data trails” that get recorded as we use more and different digital services.

Tools that track our location, search history, and all of our daily transactions online create digital records, sometimes called de facto ID, that can be used to identify us.

Often we are not fully aware of how these data trails identify us, what they reveal or how this information is used.

Even newer forms of ID – those that people assert themselves as well as personal data which is stored outside of institutional databases, sometimes on the blockchain – are further expanding definitions of digital identity.

Because ID systems are not inherently good nor bad, it is critical that we design for the outcomes we want.

To ensure the identification ecosystem in the digital age is truly inclusive, secure, and safe for everyone to use, regardless of their chosen form, it requires shared and thoughtful debate as well as collaborative development of policies, technologies, and practices.