How to protect identity in the digital age

Identity is your passport to everything, from accessing government services to banking and healthcare. But as more services go online, identity systems have become a prime target for fraud, manipulation, and cyberattacks. 

Thales plays a vital role in protecting digital identities; embedding trust, privacy, and security into the very architecture of modern ID systems. In this Q&A, we explore how. 

Q: Why is identity a critical cybersecurity priority today?

A: Digital identity is now the gatekeeper to most services, and that makes it a high-value target. According to the 2025 Thales Digital Trust Index, over half of global consumers say they would abandon a digital service after a data breach, with not one sector achieving high levels of trust among users.   

That gap between reliance and trust is why identity protection is under the spotlight this Cyber Security Awareness Month. Thales helps governments and businesses with end-to-end identity solutions, from secure enrolment and biometric authentication to credential issuance and lifecycle management. These help organisations establish a clearer, global view from which they can then embed security at every step.  

Q: What does Thales mean by “making trust tangible” in identity?

A:  Trust isn’t a buzzword, it’s security by design, resilience in action and fast and smart recovery. It’s built-in security that houses all the critical components; from semiconductor operating systems and physical security features, to cyber data and application protection, to proactive defences and continuity plans. 

 Thales enables trust through a combination of advanced cryptography, secure elements, and biometrics. Its identity solutions are used in over 300 national programmes worldwide, protecting the digital and physical identities of millions. 

Recent innovations like PQC4eMRTD (Post-Quantum Cryptography for mobile travel documents) show how Thales is already preparing identity systems to withstand tomorrow’s quantum threats, keeping trust intact as technologies evolve. 

Q: How do Thales solutions protect identity at each stage?

A: Thales safeguards identities across its full lifecycle by using a holistic security approach that builds trust at every stage, ensuring continuity, security and inclusivity: 

1. Creating the root identity: Ensuring every individual can be securely and easily enrolled, regardless of geography or the infrastructure available.
2. Issuing trusted and sustainable identity credentials: Whether physical or digital, ensuring credentials are easy to use, hard to forge, while being designed to minimise environmental impact.
3. Using identity with confidence: It must enable fast, secure access to services, anytime, anywhere, with certified trust standards and cyber resilience measures in place. 

Whether it's verifying a new user or authenticating a returning one, Thales ensures digital identity is secure, seamless, and sovereign. 

Q: How does Thales ensure biometrics are used responsibly?

A: Thales applies its TrUE Technology framework to every biometric solution, ensuring technology serves people responsibly:  

• Transparent: Clear about how biometric data is collected, stored and used.  
• Understandable: Users and service providers can see why and how biometrics are applied.  
• Ethical: Compliant with global standards and regulations, promoting fairness and preventing bias through diverse datasets and rigorous testing.  

This approach, underpinned by Thales’ Digital Ethics Charter, makes biometric identity both secure and trustworthy – combining convenience with respect for individual rights.  

Q: How does Thales balance identity security with privacy?

A: Thales solutions are built with privacy-by-design, ensuring users stay in control of their data. That means: 

• No unnecessary data collection 
• Explicit consent at each use 
• Secure, offline-capable credentials for use in low-connectivity environments 

The Queensland Mobile Driver Licence, for example, is powered by Thales and allows users to control what data is shared (e.g. proof of age without showing full DOB), showcasing how privacy and utility can co-exist. 

Q: How can we prepare identity systems for post-quantum threats?

A: With quantum computing on the horizon, traditional encryption will eventually be at risk. Thales is proactively embedding Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) into its identity platforms, starting with government ID programmes and travel documents. 

This forward-thinking approach ensures that the identities issued today will remain protected for decades to come, even in a quantum computing world. 

Q: How does Thales ensure future-proof scalability in its solution?

A: Thales offers modular, interoperable identity solutions that meet the highest international standards, including OSIA interoperable interfaces that seamlessly integrate with an existing ecosystem and scale up our solution.  

Scalability is also built into the solution itself, leveraging cloud architecture and microservices that are resilient and scalable by nature. These technologies give public and private sector organisations the tools to manage identity securely and at scale, and provide a high level of resilience 

In a world of deepfakes, data breaches, and digital overload, verifying "who you are" online has never been more complex, or more critical. The theme of this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month is “Securing our World”, and it’s clear that this needs to start with securing identity. By protecting identities at every step, Thales enables governments, businesses, and citizens to engage in the digital economy with confidence.