National digital identity systems have become a key requirement for easy access to online public services, specially during Covid-19. While many countries have adopted a national digital identity system, many are still in the process of establishing one. Through a comparative analysis of the technological and legal dimensions of a few selected national digital identity solutions currently being used in different countries, we highlight the diversity of technologies and architectures and the key role of the legal framework of a given digital identity solution. We also present several key issues related to the implementation of these solutions, how to ensure the State sovereignty over them, and how to strike the right balance between private sector and public sector needs. This position paper aims to help policy makers, software developers and concerned users understand the challenges of designing, implementing and using a national digital identity management system and establishing a legal framework for digital identity management, including personal data protection measures. The authors of this paper have a favorable position for self-sovereign identity management systems that are based on Blockchain technology, and we believe they are the most suitable for national digital identity systems.

翻译：国家数字身份系统已成为便捷获取在线公共服务的关键需求，尤其在新冠疫情期间尤为凸显。尽管许多国家已采用国家数字身份系统，但仍有不少国家正处于建立该系统的进程中。通过对若干国家现行数字身份解决方案的技术与法律维度进行对比分析，我们揭示了相关技术与架构的多样性，以及法律框架在特定数字身份解决方案中的核心作用。同时，我们阐述了实施这些解决方案所涉及的若干关键问题，包括如何确保国家对该系统的主权，以及如何在私营部门与公共部门需求之间取得适当平衡。本文旨在帮助政策制定者、软件开发人员及关注此议题的用户深入理解设计、实施和使用国家数字身份管理系统所面临的挑战，并为包括个人数据保护措施在内的数字身份管理法律框架的构建提供参考。本文作者对基于区块链技术的自主主权身份管理系统持赞成立场，并认为该系统最适用于国家数字身份体系。