The Ministry of Digital Affairs yesterday said that it aims to launch a trial of a digital wallet by the end of this year and that it would accommodate multiple identification documents in one platform.
Aside from banks and insurance firms, the ministry said it hopes that supermarket chain operators could also participate in the trial.
Like a real wallet that a person uses to carry their ID card, National Health Insurance card and other identification documents, the digital wallet would be designed to accommodate multiple cards in one platform, the ministry said.
Photo: Hsu Tzu-ling, Taipei Times
If the digital wallet can be connected to citizen digital certificates and the national health insurance card systems, people could just carry their smartphones when they leave the house, it said.
To win people’s trust in the digital wallet, the ministry would fully disclose the code to the public, Department of Digital Cooperation Director-General Chuang Ying-chih (莊盈志) said.
“This would let the public know two things: first, the operation of the digital wallet does not violate human rights; second, disclosing the program code would allow the public to test and identify problems with the digital wallet and make it safer to use,” Chuang said.
“If hackers can breach the digital wallet, it means the system has problems. Instead of having such problems circulating among hackers, we might as well make the program code public and let everyone have a chance to bolster the safety of the system,” he said.
The types of ID that the digital wallet could carry in the initial phase would probably include citizen digital certificates, business certificates of corporations and certificates of professional skills, Chuang said.
The ministry would try to connect the digital wallet to the systems for driver’s licenses and national health insurance cards, he said.
The digital wallet project has been warmly received by banks and insurance firms, as it would greatly save the time and resources they spend in verifying the identities of their customers, Chuang said.
The system would also help people when they pick up items purchased online at convenience stores, he said.
“Consumers need to present their ID cards. To accumulate points in their membership accounts, they need to give their phone number and must verify it on screen. This could lead to leaks of personal data. We will try to allow consumers to use the digital wallet in convenience stores,” he said.
The digital wallet is to be tested in a sandbox in next month and a trial version is expected to be launched in December, the ministry said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS