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Imagine a centralized database replete with your personal information that links together your and your family’s vital health, education, and social welfare records. Now imagine the database includes an entire country’s population.

Fifty years ago this year, Denmark launched the world’s first nationalized big data project. The country’s Civil Personal Registration (CPR) system assigns every resident a “digital ID” that directly connects them with the Danish state to facilitate government-citizen interactions from birth to death and everywhere in between. Originally created to render tax collection  and the distribution of social benefits more efficient, the system has become a popular and benevolent instrument in Denmark built on the values of trust in government and sense of community.

Now similar data infrastructures—often built by private sector platforms—are being applied across the globe, but in a climate in which data breaches are growing more frequent and more severe, their implications must adapt to the opportunities—and account for the challenges—of twenty-first century technology. How can citizens ensure their personal data isn’t vulnerable to hacking and that their privacy rights are being upheld? What safeguards must government and the private sector take on to guarantee data is used and stored securely? What do CPR-modeled platforms mean for the future of digital democracy?

On April 24, Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ NYC, in partnership with the  and Columbia University’s , hosted a set of conversations on the past, present, and future of digital identity—and the measures we need in place to ensure its use for good.

WELCOMING REMARKS

Elana Broitman 
Director, Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ NYC

Tom Freston
Board Member and Chair, Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ NYC Advisory Council

OPENING REMARKS

Ambassador Jonas Bering-Liisberg
State Secretary for Foreign Policy, Kingdom of Denmark

SESSION 1

Mikkel Hagen Hess 
Director, Invest in Denmark, North America

Don Thibeau 
Executive Director, OpenID Foundation

Zia Khan 
Vice President, Initiatives and Strategy, The Rockefeller Foundation

Michael Ibach
Chief Analytics Officer, United Nations

Tara Nathan 
Executive Vice President, Public-Private Partnerships, MasterCard

Louise Matsakis 
Staff writer, WIRED 

SESSION 2

Rebecca MacKinnon 
Director, Ranking Digital Rights, Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½

Jacob Mchangama 
Founder and CEO, Justitia

John Paul Farmer 
Director, Technology and Civic Innovation, Microsoft

Amanda Graham 
Co-founder and Chief Services Officer, Blockchain for Change

David K. Park 
Dean of Strategic Initiatives, Arts & Sciences, and Faculty Member, Data Science Institute, Columbia University

Natasha Singer 
Technology reporter, The New York Times