The government's new digital trust framework is a system to prove who you are online much more securely and easily. File photo. Photo: 123RF
The government has quietly ushered in a new digital trust framework designed to be the answer to people's experiences with fraud, doubt and lack of trust online.
One expert says it is not a matter of "Big Brother" watching your every move and that the new framework - which went live at the start of the month - is a good thing and a cornerstone for bringing in safe AI.
The country's digital identity environment has been unregulated, but New Zealand is moving to change that, after six years of work.
The digital trust framework is a system to prove who you are online much more securely and easily. It kicked in on 1 July.
Victoria University Professor of Informatics Markus Luczak-Roesch has been waiting for the new system.
"Your degree of trust in who someone is will definitely increase over what you've got at the moment," he said.
It is designed to make New Zealanders safer from scammers and phishers, and give them the ability to more easily able to prove who they are using just their smartphone, to access superannuation or health services, open a bank account or prove their age.
But the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) made no accouncement specific to 1 July and
Minister for Digitising Government Judith Collins - who has recently been eagerly endorsing AI's expansion - did not want to answer questions about whether this remained a priority for her, like it was under the previous government.
Her office told RNZ its query was "best directed to DIA", which built the framework.
Luczak-Roesch said the digital ID moves are essential.
"If we are saying we want to advance artificial intelligence in government, and in our businesses... [this] is a cornerstone to that. So if we want that, we have to make it a priority."
Digital Identity New Zealand head Colin Wallis agreed.
"The intent is that you'll have a a safer digital playing field as a baseline to build other services on top of... that you know the services you're using are trustworthy," Wallis said.
Wallis suspected Internal Affairs had no budget for public relations to educate the public or companies, but said this could get very big.
"It's just going to take some time for the ripple... to become seismic, and it's not going to do that until you've got a chunky number of identity service providers... operating under the scheme."
The framework will be used to accredit digital ID services from public agencies and private companies in any of five areas, including the likes of NZTA Waka Kotahi issuing a new digital driver's licence, or a company creating a secure digital wallet to keep it in.
DIA said the Trust Framework Authority was already working with potential service providers in both the public and private sector "to build understanding and awareness of the Trust Framework and prepare applicants for its accreditation requirements".
The first applications should be ready later this year, it said.
The European Union brought in its rules for digital wallets in May. Europe is at the forefront of online privacy and security rules, but has admitted that while it will not get everything right first up, it must act now.
Luczak-Roesch agreed that the real enemy was inaction.
"There's a huge risk of doing nothing. Which is why it's good that we're doing something."
People who had been burnt in online scams might look at this and think: "Gosh, now the government is moving into a space where all of that is going on," he said.
"But they don't actually know how the systems are built underneath and this [framework] move is a real moment of opportunity where we could rethink that and probably improve the way those systems are built."
Wallis said New Zealand was in a similar spot to Europe, making a move even though there might be weaknesses, such as not sticking to international data security standards as closely as it could.
"You've got to start somewhere, I guess.
"And the way that this has been gone about is using the local standards and building out from there, which is understandable, but it doesn't help your interoperability from the get go," Wallis said.
Luczak-Roesch said the government would do well to be more transparent, like Europe, but dismissed fears equating a 'universal digital identity' system with Big Brother.
Europe's aims were security and safety online - not surveillance - and from what he could see the New Zealand government was also taking that approach.
The regulations behind the framework law are expected to be in place by September.
"These regulations will enable various sized organisations to easily comply by providing a minimum level of requirements to reduce barriers to opt into the Trust Framework," Collins told a Cabinet committee earlier this year.
Accreditation will be free for the next two years or so, under a scheme expected to cost $5 million a year to run.
New Zealand lags in the World Bank's government tech maturity rankings, scoring a nine, when six is the world median (lower is better: Finland is a six, while Singapore is also nine).
Collins is setting up a ministerial advisory group to improve government digital services, and expects to take a "digital roadmap" to the Cabinet in September.
The Trust Framework Board members are: Ann-Marie Cavanagh (chair), Melissa Gill, John Whaanga and Liz Maguire. Internal Affairs also has a Māori Advisory Group whose members are: Dr Warren Williams (chair), Dr Karaitiana Taiuru and Dan Te Kanawa.