With this paper, the Institute of Baltic Studies addresses critical questions surrounding the security of government-issued identity documents and their potential misuse, with an emphasis on understanding the perspectives of ordinary citizens across Europe and the United States of America. The research explores identity theft and societal acceptability of electronic identity, drawing upon research on technology acceptance and diffusion. It focuses on understanding the factors that influence users’ adoption of novel identity management solutions. Our methodology includes a comprehensive, census-representative survey spanning citizens from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the USA.
The paper’s findings underscore robust confidence in government-issued identity documents. This is contrasted by a lower trust in private sector services. These services include social media platforms and email accounts. The adoption of artificial intelligence for identity verification remains contested. A significant percentage of respondents are undecided about this issue. This indicates a need for explicit explanation and transparency about its implementation and related risks. Public sentiment leans towards acceptance of government data collection for identification purposes. However, concerns arise about identity theft and societal acceptability when this data is shared with private entities.