ID2020 is a

nongovernmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

( 501(c)(3)) 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 zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...

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 1.5 billion 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. The 2018 summit was held in September 2018, and focused on defining what constitutes a "good" digital ID. Sponsors for the event included the United Nations Office of Information Communications Technology (OICT),

United Nations Refugee Agency The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integratio ...

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

and the Consulate General of Denmark in New York. In 2019, ID2020 started a new digital identity program in collaboration with the

government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Co ...

and

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (previously the GAVI Alliance, and before that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) is a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to 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. Accenture, Microsoft team up on blockchain-based digital ID network
Anna Irrera,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

, June 19, 2017 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

Organizations currently or formerly participating in the ID2020 initiative include:

COVID-19 conspiracy theory

Conspiracy theorists A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

falsely alleged that ID2020 and

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

made plans for mandatory

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

and the implantation of microchips into patients' bodies. As a result of these conspiracy theories, the staff at ID2020 received death threats.

References

External links

*
World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters

Coronavirus
at Politifact {{COVID-19 pandemic Non-profit organizations based in New York City Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic Conspiracy theories Conspiracy theories in the United States Fake news Medical-related conspiracy theories Misinformation Pseudohistory Pseudoscience Disinformation operations 2016 establishments in the United States