A slide from a meeting about the Trusted Digital Identity system obtained via a freedom of information request (Image: Supplied)

Public servants at the Digital Transformation Agency tried to stop the government’s proposed digital identity bill being used to remove anonymity from social media platforms, after former minister Stuart Robert suggested it as a way to stop online trolling, internal documents reveal.

The federal government has been pursuing a number of programs to verify the identity and the age of Australians online. The Digital Transformation Agency has drafted a Trusted Digital Identity Bill, while the eSafety Commissioner has been developing an age verification roadmap to solve a thorny problem: how can you prove the identity and age of someone behind a computer? 

While there are benefits for people, governments and businesses, there are also concerns about the program, including the risk to privacy that comes from linking someone’s identity to suggested uses such as accessing pornography, buying alcohol or gambling online. 

In the preparation for an October 2021 meeting between the Office of the eSafety Commissioner and the Digital Transformation Agency, a prepared memo for the eSafety Commissioner’s office suggests that staff were surprised to hear the then minister for employment, workforce, skills, small and family business Stuart Robert suggest in a Sky News interview using the trusted digital identity scheme to reveal the identity of people behind social media accounts.

“It’s not a big step to go forward to say: well, hang on, maybe we should be using digital identity for […] areas where identity needs to be proven,” the minister said, referring to holding social media companies to account over trolling.

“Has the DTA been requested to take any action relating to these public comments?” a section of the eSafety Commissioner’s office memo reads.

Notes made during the meeting show that staff from the Digital Transformation Agency hoped to hose down any scope creep for the trusted identity scheme: “Noted they are still trying to keep other ideas/suggestions for the digital ID at bay.”

Using the trusted digital identity scheme to reveal the identity of social media trolls would only be possible where Australians were forced to link their social media accounts to their government digital identity — a significantly broader use of the scheme than currently suggested.  

The meeting minutes also reveal that Mastercard was so enthusiastic about being part of a Digital Transformation Agency trial of using its age verification technology that it published a media release about its involvement without even telling the agency.

“Did not clear the element of release that flagged Mastercard was to be involved with AV trials,” says the October 2021 meeting minutes. 

These minutes also show that another age verification company, Yoti, also proactively contacted the Digital Transformation Agency to be involved. The interest from these companies is an indication of the value for the private sector to be involved in this potentially lucrative government program.