ID2020


ID2020 is a nongovernmental organization which advocates for digital ID for the billion undocumented people worldwide and under-served groups like refugees. Dakota Gruener is the executive director of ID2020. The NGO was relatively unknown before being publicized because of misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic by conspiracy theorists.

History

In May 2016, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the inaugural ID2020 summit brought together over 400 people to discuss how to provide digital identity to all, a defined Sustainable Development Goal including to 1.5bn people living without any form of recognized identification. Experts in blockchain and other cryptographic technology joined with representatives of technical standards bodies to identify how technology and other private sector expertise could achieve the goal.
In 2019, ID2020 started a new digital identity program in collaboration with the government of Bangladesh and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.

Mission

ID2020 is a public-private consortium in service of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of providing legal identity for all people, including the world's most vulnerable populations.
ID2020 has published a ten-point mission statement, which includes: "We believe that individuals must have control over their own digital identities, including how personal data is collected, used, and shared."

Participants

, Microsoft, Avanade Inc, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Cisco Systems Inc have contributed their expertise to ID2020.

COVID-19 conspiracy theory

falsely alleged that ID2020 and Bill Gates made plans for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination and the implantation of microchips into patients' bodies. As a result of these conspiracy theories, the staff at ID2020 have been receiving death threats.