Is It Legal? Will It Be Trusted? What Are the Rules? -- Enabling Electronic Identity Management Under the New UNCITRAL Model Law

39 Pages Posted: 18 Apr 2024

See all articles by Thomas J. Smedinghoff

Thomas J. Smedinghoff

Law Office of Thomas J. Smedinghoff; OpenID Foundation

Date Written: April 15, 2024

Abstract

This paper examines and explains the objectives and operation of the identity management (“IdM”) provisions of the new model law governing IdM developed by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (“UNCITRAL”). That model law is titled the “Model Law on the Use and Cross-Border Recognition of Identity Management and Trust Services” (“Model Law”). It is designed as an enabling law to be enacted by individual countries at a national level to address the legal obstacles to online identity management regardless of technology and business model used.
The Model Law is a first-of-its-kind law to define a legal framework and provide a uniform set of legal rules to govern the use of all electronic IdM systems and services in the context of commercial activities. It covers both domestic and cross-border transactions occurring within the enacting country and applies to both public and private sector IdM systems and services.
Beginning with the three key legal questions inhibiting the use of online identity management, this paper examines the scope and objectives of the Model Law, the assumptions regarding IdM on which it is based, and the legal framework adopted by the Model Law to achieve its objectives. With that background, this paper examines the ways in which the Model Law resolves the key legal questions inhibiting the use of online identity management to achieve its objectives.

Keywords: identity, identity management, law, electronic commerce, online commerce, e-commerce, IdM

JEL Classification: k10, k12, k19, k20, k22, k23, k29, k30, k33, k39,

Suggested Citation

Smedinghoff, Thomas J., Is It Legal? Will It Be Trusted? What Are the Rules? -- Enabling Electronic Identity Management Under the New UNCITRAL Model Law (April 15, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4795327 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4795327

Thomas J. Smedinghoff (Contact Author)

Law Office of Thomas J. Smedinghoff ( email )

823 William St,
River Forest, IL 60305
United States

OpenID Foundation ( email )

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