Utah may soon establish an optional digital ID system — one focused on privacy protections including a “digital identity bill of rights” — after a year of research and preparation to develop the program.
Sponsored by Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Cottonwood Heights, the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee unanimously approved SB275 on Wednesday, sending it to the Senate floor. Last year, Cullimore sponsored another digital ID bill to begin research for the program, outline state policy, and establish privacy principles.
“(Last year’s bill) did three critical things,” Cullimore told the committee. “It declared that identity belongs to the individual and not the state. It embedded strong privacy and anti-surveillance guardrails into the statute, and it also required study and stakeholder consultation before implementation.”
He said SB275 builds on that existing framework and “takes principles adopted from last year and turns them into an operational program.” Getting a digital ID would be optional, as the bill includes safeguards that prevent Utahns from being forced or compelled to acquire one.
“Digital identity is coming, regardless of whether we address it or not,” Cullimore told the committee. “I think Utah is unique in being ahead of the curve, dealing with this and getting in front of it.”
Cullimore said he thinks the state is becoming a national leader in digital ID framework, with its system based on privacy protections that gives Utahns the right to control their own identity data.
“We’re building a coalition of other states to get on board,” Cullimore said. “As we lead out with this, there’ll be a critical mass of other states that are also doing this.”
The federal government would not have access to state identity data, with Cullimore emphasizing that the bill “keeps the technical infrastructure in a state- controlled data center here in Utah.”
Read the full report at UtahNewsDispatch.com.
