Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he doesn’t know where questions about a digital identity are coming from — even as his government has a job posting to oversee services like digital identity and digital payments..Plans to implement a digital ID are an “internet, urban legend,” Kenney said during a Facebook live Q&A on Wednesday evening, in which he fielded questions from Albertans..“I honestly don’t know what you’re referring to (or) what the digital ID is,” Kenney said..“I just don’t know where that’s coming from”.As first reported by the Counter Signal, the Alberta government is hiring an executive director, platforms to “build and manage platform services like digital identity, digital payment, notification and engagement, user-experience data collection, and content and document management.”.“You’ll succeed by establishing and scaling teams that are iterative, user-centred, data-driven and focused on digital delivery with Cloud-era ways of working,” the job post reads..Some Canadians are concerned that any sort of digital ID could lead to a China-style social credit system, which evaluates citizens based on trustworthiness to the state. .In response to the Ontario government’s plan to develop digital IDs, former Conservative MP Derek Sloan’s Ontario Party submitted a petition demanding the province ban implementation..The data aggregation involved in such a system would give the government power to turn someone “off” from it and create an inability for them to engage in society, as occurs in China, Sloan told the Western Standard earlier this month. .The Service Alberta job posting will support the management and development of user-friendly platform services, “including but not limited to digital identity,” said Lindsay Milligan, press secretary to Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish..“MyAlberta Digital ID verifies an individual’s identity online the same way an ID card or driver’s licence does in person,” Milligan said in an email..MyAlberta Digital ID launched in 2015. Users create an account to prove their identity online, without paper documents or face-to-face visits, to access services like federal benefits, health records, driver’s license and permits, college applications, and more. .Currently, only public sector services are available through MyAlberta Digital ID, but the province is “exploring opportunities for the private sector to leverage the high-level of identity assurance the service brings,” Milligan said..The job posting replaces a previous position and does not grow the public service or add to the existing budget, Milligan said. The salary range is listed at $125,318 – $164,691 annually. .Kenney on Wednesday said he has been asked about the digital ID before, but remains unsure what the questions are referring to. .“Post in the comment section below if anybody has information on what the Alberta digital ID supposedly is,” the premier told his Facebook live audience..Rachel Emmanuel is the Edmonton Bureau Chief for the Western Standard.remmanuel@westernstandard.news
