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🆔 Government Digital ID

The Verana Verifiable Trust Network (VVTN) provides governments with the infrastructure to issue privacy-preserving, verifiable, decentralized Digital IDs that empower citizens while maintaining national sovereignty over identity systems.

Create the Digital Identity Ecosystem​

Governments begin by creating their Ecosystem Trust Registry in Verana.

  • Define a Citizen ID Credential Schema.
  • Establish an Ecosystem Governance Framework (EGF) that sets rules for issuance, verification, and authorization of participants.

This registry ensures that only authorized issuers and verifiers can participate in the Digital ID system.

Build the Digital Wallet​

Governments (or local providers) build a Digital Wallet mobile app that acts as a Verifiable User Agent (VUA).

  • Citizens use the wallet to store their Citizen ID Verifiable Credential (VC).
  • The wallet is self-sovereign: citizens own their credentials, with no central account or dependency.
  • Compatible with open standards like EIDAS2, DIDs, DIDComm, W3C VCs, OpenID4VC, OpenID4VP.

Citizen Onboarding into the Registry​

At public offices (e.g., civil registry):

  1. Onboarding Verifiable Service captures biometric data and validates documents.
  2. Citizen data is recorded in the central registry database.
  3. Citizen receives an NFC-enabled ID card containing personal and biometric information.

This ensures official enrollment into the state identity system.

Issuing the Citizen ID Verifiable Credential​

Citizens then use a Citizen Onboarding Verifiable Service registered as an authorized issuer of the Citizen ID Credential Schema:

  1. Download the Government Digital Wallet, that automatically connects to the Citizen Onboarding Verifiable Service.
  2. Capture a photo of the physical ID card. The app reads the MRZ to retrieve the key for NFC access.
  3. Tap the ID card on the handset for NFC read of the ID Document to extract citizen's personal and biometric information.
  4. Perform a face match against the extracted photo to confirm the user of the handset is the legitimate cardholder.
  5. If verified, a Citizen ID Verifiable Credential is issued to the wallet.

👉 Any previously issued credential is revoked automatically, ensuring there is only one valid credential per citizen.

Authorized Verifiers​

The government decides who can request credential presentations:

  • Applicants (e.g., banks, telecoms, hospitals) undergo a validation process before being authorized.
  • Once approved, they are registered as authorized verifiers for the Citizen ID schema.
  • Governments can implement a pay-per-verification model:
    • Each verification request incurs a fee.
    • Fee payment is privacy-preserving, issuers of a Citizen ID credential cannot know, even if they receive a payment for a presentation request, who is the citizen that presented the credential to a verifier (bank,...).

Selective Disclosure​

By supporting advanced credential formats (e.g., ZKPs, BBS+), governments can enable:

  • Citizens to prove attributes without revealing full data (e.g., “over 18” without disclosing date of birth).
  • Minimal disclosure principles, reducing risks of data misuse.

Why Verana for Government Digital ID​

  • Decentralized trust layer: No single vendor lock-in, open governance.
  • Wallet and format-agnostic: Support any wallet, EIDAS2, DIDComm, OpenID4VC/VP, W3C VCs, and any DID method.
  • Cost-efficient: Entire Verana stack is open source and free to use.
  • Future-proof: Built to interoperate across ecosystems (finance, healthcare, travel).
  • Citizen empowerment: IDs are stored in citizens’ wallets, not siloed in proprietary systems of third party companies.

A New Model for Digital ID​

With Verana, governments can deliver a Digital ID that is secure, interoperable, privacy-preserving, and citizen-controlled, without sacrificing state authority or economic sustainability.

The result:

  • Citizens can prove who they are remotely.
  • Governments maintain trusted registries.
  • Ecosystems (banks, telecoms, healthcare, travel) gain verifiable, auditable trust.
  • Society benefits from a fair, decentralized digital infrastructure.