Key Takeaways Digital identity becomes a gatekeeper: Countries are rolling out digital ID systems that link identity to work, travel, public services, and even access to essential services such as food and transportation.
Countries are rolling out digital ID systems that link identity to work, travel, public services, and even access to essential services such as food and transportation. Money is becoming programmable: The digital euro pilot demonstrates how currency could be tracked or restricted by policy, shifting money from something you own to something you access under specific rules.
rules. Private communication is at risk: The EU’s proposed Chat Control would require scanning of messages on encrypted apps, raising the possibility that private messaging may no longer be private.
The EU’s proposed Chat Control would require scanning of messages on encrypted apps, raising the possibility that private messaging may no longer be private. Power depends on who holds the keys: Once identity, payments, and communication run through one system, the technology can be repurposed for control, especially in countries where dissent is already dangerous.
Picture this: you go into your local supermarket, load your cart, swipe your phone at a biometric turnstile – and voilà, you’re in.
Now imagine one day you walk up, scan your face or show your digital ID app…and you are denied entry, because your digital identity didn’t check out.
That may sound dystopian, but across the world, digital-identity systems are rapidly shifting from convenience to control.
And the West is scrambling to keep up.
From Tomorrowland to Today
In China, the new ‘Citizen Credit Reset’ ties a state-issued digital ID to almost every part of daily life. Buying food, riding the subway, logging onto the internet – everything requires verification.
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