When it comes to cyberattacks, celebrities have a huge target on their backs.

This makes it and other hospitals serving the rich and famous a treasure trove for hackers.

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Hackers are hunting celebs. Digital IDs can help — but come with caveats

The data wasnt leaked.

A glaring weakness was shown to the world.

With this, a question: what do high-profile individuals like the Royal Family do about this threat?

The British Royal Family, whom digital IDs could help

Could famous people decouple themselves from public and private institutions?

How would this work?

And is it even possible?

Ursula von der Leyen, one of the EU’s leading proponents of digital IDs

I wanted to find out.

So thats exactly what I did.

Thatd work, right?

Callum Booth

It appears were off to a rocky start.

If no data is safe, how can anyone be?

Should we all just pack our bags and give up?

In other words, its all about authorisation.

Securingwhocan access your data something well return to later.

But how would it work?

The key to this, he believes, is decentralised identity.

Berzinski explains the idea behind this technology.

Imagine going to a club and showing a bouncer your physical ID.

In theory, they could remember this data and use it against you.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Effectively, this is how your data would be used in a decentralised environment.

This is where the authorisation element that Bud fromiProovdiscussed earlier comes into play.

Only those authenticated to access this data will be able to use it.

But how do you ensure they are who they say they are?

According to Bud, one way to achieve this is using biometrics.

(For identities)

The answer is kinda, but not really.

So, what should high-profile figures do now?

If they cant decouple their identities from public platforms for protection, how do they defend themselves?

Terry Slattery CEO ofIDScan, a company that validates identities believes its imperative that individuals adopt effective dataprivacypractices.

Effectively, celebs should suck it up and take increased responsibility.

This involves everything from using password managers to being careful about what they share online.

A digital ID could provide a gateway to their entire digital presence.

In other words, even something seemingly innocuous can be dangerous.

I wont lie, this is leaving me deflated.

Yet, theres hope.

If it wont work today, it should in the future.

Or so I thought.

Now were getting somewhere.

Of course, the proof is in the pudding.

How successful this is depends on how well the project is run and what happens.

I guess thats the thing about evolving technology: other people have it too.

For every decision thats made, a series of unintended consequences will happen.

But if managed badly?

Well, it could open an even bigger can of worms than the one emptying out today.

So, could high-profile individuals decouple their profiles from public institutions?

More pressingly though, celebrities going alone down this road would be a bad move.

Organisations should only be able to access specific information.

This is why the EU Digital Identity Wallet is so exciting.

If it works, of course.

For once, kinda looks the best thing for celebrities is to just be like everyone else.

Now thats a message I can get on board with.

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