The guide says identity helps define a person, a group, a social entity or a community. Online, a person has three identities at the same time — and only the first one is the one they wrote.
Declared, recorded and inferred — and which of the three actually decides what you are shown.
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How different fields see digital identity: Psychology: how you see yourself. Sociology and cultural studies: the groups you belong to. Political science: the ID the state issues. Anthropology: shared customs. Philosophy: what makes you the same person over time.
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| Layer | Where it comes from | Can you see it? |
|---|---|---|
| Declared | You wrote it | Yes — and you can change it |
| Recorded | A by-product of using the service | Rarely, and only in part |
| Inferred | Estimated from the recorded layer | No |
Why this ordering matters: The layer you control is the one with least effect. The layer that decides what you are offered, priced and shown is the one you cannot see — and it can be wrong about you without anybody finding out.
Why people customise an avatar
- To express who they are — style, gender, culture, mood.
- To be who they are not — try out a look or a role safely.
- To stay anonymous — protect their real face and name.
- To belong — match a team, a clan or a fan group.
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Identity is not only how you see yourself. It is also a record somebody holds and uses to decide whether you are who you say you are — and increasingly that record is the only one that counts.
Real-world examples you can name
Aadhaar, India's biometric ID system — launched 2009; Supreme Court ruling September 2018
A national identity number linked to fingerprints and iris scans, used to authenticate access to services. The Supreme Court upheld the scheme for welfare and tax purposes but struck down its use by private companies, and reporting has linked authentication failures to people being denied rations.
Who it affected: Over a billion enrolled residents, and in particular those whose fingerprints scan poorly — manual labourers and older people.
San Francisco's facial recognition ban — May 2019
The first major US city to bar its own agencies, including the police, from using facial recognition — a rule about government use, not about the technology existing. Several other cities followed, and a few later relaxed theirs.
Who it affected: Residents, and police forces that had to find other methods.
The concept doing work: Power. Whoever issues and verifies identity decides who can act. In India's Aadhaar biometric ID system (from 2009) a fingerprint that scans badly can mean a person cannot collect food they are entitled to.
Does a robot have an identity?: A robot has an identity in the record-keeping sense: a serial number, a name, a role. Whether it has a sense of self is the open question. Sophia the robot was given Saudi citizenship in 2017, which shows identity can be granted, not only felt.
How this is tested — identity is the lens when a question is about profiles, verification, personalisation or belonging. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — structured question
- Part b: explain why a described system builds a profile
- Part c: evaluate a system that verifies who someone is
Paper 2 — source-based question
- Q2: explain how a source describes a person or group
- Q4: synthesise sources on digital identity
The trap: only the profile: The declared profile is the least important layer. An answer that stops there has missed both the recorded and the inferred.
Define the concept of identity as used in digital society.
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Explain one reason why an inferred identity can disadvantage a person.
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