Identity is far more than identification

There is still a need to paint the full picture. How identity is built with a long range of verifiable credentials. Often - but not in all cases - starting with an identification credential. 

Identification is the act of proving who you or your company/employer are — typically at a specific point in time.

It’s transactional. Examples:

• Showing your passport at the airport. Or identity card and drivers license. 

• Logging in with BankID in your e- or mobile bank and other public sector or private services (all in the Nordics) that need strong identification 

• Presenting your digital ID credential - soon state-issued ones all over EU

• Soon presenting your company  or empLoyer ("a legal person has never done anything") with LPIDs issued by Trade Registries. IBAN-credentials issued by banks can be seen as even stronger as there is the KYC included. 

It answers the question:

“Who is this entity?”

🔹 Identity

Identity is the sum of what defines you — the attributes, roles, relationships, rights, and history that make up who you are and what you can do.

It’s persistent, contextual, and multi-dimensional. Examples:

• “Bo Harald” as a person with a Finnish national ID, a company founder, a bank account owner, a taxpayer with verifiable income, a citizen of the EU, having verifiable degrees, drivers and other licenses, powers of attorneys,  ownerships, board memberships and a participant in the digital trust ecosystem - to mention a few credentials that I need and decide to share in business and life events..

• A company as a legal person: registered, licensed, and represented by authorised individuals. A longe range of credentials typically issued by public sectors. - building the organisation identity. Also soon presented by wallet carrying organisational AI-agents.

It answers broader questions:

“Who are you — in this context (business or life event), for this purpose, with what authority, and with what verified attributes?”

🔹 In digital terms:

• Identification = authentication + validation of a single credential (e.g., logging in).

• Identity = the verified data graph describing the entity across contexts — roles, credentials, and rights managed through a wallet.

This is why EUDI wallets, EUBWs, and their AI-agent credentials aren’t “just digital IDs.”
They’re identity systems — binding identification to verified data, rights, and accountability.

In one line:

Identification is a moment.
Identity is a continuum of verified, contextual meaning.