Analysis of digital security, identity verification, and digital public services in Latin America.

When someone submits a certificate request or carries out a public trámite (procedure) from their cell phone, they don't see the complex digital framework that makes the operation possible. But behind that apparent simplicity, a critical technology operates, safeguarding the relationship between the citizenry and the State—discreetly but decisively.

Because the collection of biometric and personal data is the norm today, countries have, in recent years, invested in increasingly digitized security, identity, and verification systems. This is done to provide greater transparency and protection for citizens' data.

How is all of this organized? There are three key components:

• Identity verification: Systems using biometrics or official data that guarantee a person's identity is verified.
• Data security: All collected information is stored or transferred in an encrypted form and with strict controls. Digital entities build their platforms with backup and recovery policies and secure standards to prevent breaches.
• Digital public records: The information, held in robust systems, can be used by other official entities. This cements interoperability practices, which make trámites (procedures) easier for citizens.

This design works invisibly: the citizen carries out their trámite from home, and everything happens behind the scenes with secure technological integrations.

Digital Services Already Transforming the Citizen Experience

Some examples in Latin America show high levels of progress, as is the case in Colombia. There, the National Digital Agency (AND) has promoted the so-called Digital Citizen Services (SCD), which include three fundamental pillars: "Digital Authentication, Interoperability."

Through the Carpeta Ciudadana Digital (Digital Citizen Folder), for example, citizens can consult more than 100 different trámites online, without having to travel physically.

Documents like the Registro Único Tributario (RUT, or Single Tax Registry), certificates of disciplinary or fiscal records, driver's licenses, and even information on social programs like “Ingreso Solidario” or the VAT refund are already available in this digital folder.

In a process called digital authentication, the citizen's digital attributes—such as name, document number, or biometric data—are verified every time an online process is performed. This makes it secure to connect with public entities and sign electronic documents, ensuring the identity of the person carrying out the procedure. According to MinTIC (Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications), more than one million Colombians are already authenticated to perform digital process.

In El Salvador, for example, the government has enabled the unified platform SIMPLE.SV, which operates with a Digital Identity. Through this digital identity, citizens can access hundreds of online process, including the issuance of criminal background records, verification of police clearance, apostilling documents, and making electronic payments. This system also integrates an electronic signature, allowing digital process to be completed without physical paper, strengthening both the efficiency and the security of the processes.

Even in countries like Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, digital identification systems have been launched that have simplified many process for their citizens. Both launched a national electronic identification (e-ID) system, enabling multiple public services such as access to social benefits, health management, and identity procedures, among others.

What Does This Change Mean for Citizens?

Thanks to these technological developments, public services are increasingly within reach from an Internet-connected device, eliminating the need to travel, wait in lines, or carry multiple physical documents.

Digital authentication offers a higher level of security, reducing the risks of identity theft. Interoperability, meanwhile, ensures that public entities can collaborate more efficiently without compromising individual privacy.

Without going any further, these are some advantages of secure digital process that Latin American citizens enjoy today:

• In Colombia, the Estado Simple, Colombia Ágil (Simple State, Agile Colombia) policy achieved estimated savings of 316.881 million pesos for citizens and businesses.
• An Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report on the digital transformation of public services in the city of São Paulo (Brazil) found that every real invested generated a return of 27 reales per year.
• That same study estimated an average reduction of ** 73.9%** in the cost per service request for citizens and businesses, and a cut of 39.9% for the public administration. According to an IDB report, digital transactional services in Latin America and the Caribbean require an average of 74% less time than in-person process.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, this transformation is underway: by consolidating secure digital identities, unified service platforms, and interoperable data highways, countries not only gain transparency but also legitimacy and closeness with their citizens.