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1. Unified log-in experiences will become more prominent in 2022, catalysing the extinction of traditional log-in methods

“The passwordless log-in experience has had a slower adoption rate than anticipated due to the ubiquity of passwords, but as is understood across the industry, the latter is not as secure as other sign-in methods. In 2022 we can expect the desire for a common user experience across mobile and desktop to be the factor that catalyses passwordless adoption.

“Implementing a unified user experience will be more of a driver than the security benefits, both for consumers and technology organisations. Methods of authenticity presented on mobile and desktop will become more aligned and similar in their offering across channels.

“We can expect to see two different types of adoption models – the widespread use of native biometrics on both mobile and desktop browsing, and passive mechanics such as behavioural biometrics. The customer will be able to log-in across mobile and desktop using a single username.

“In the background, organisations will be able to see how users behave on different types of devices at different times of the day. They can then use this information to build a better picture of their behavioural biometrics, which can be used to make their online experience more secure.

“We will also see the continued adoption of progressive web application usage (PWAs) on a larger scale, which can be installed via the browser. These will have the look and feel of a native app, but with a lot more benefits. For example, they are lightweight, small in size, users don’t have to go to the app store to download them, and they work offline. The singular concept of a PWA across mobile and desktop browsing environments will eradicate the need to download native mobile apps.”

2. In 2022, businesses will implement new adoption techniques to recover consumers’ digital identity

“Next year we can expect to see technology companies using passwordless adoption techniques to implement more secure controls across account recovery journeys. One example of this is social based account recovery mechanisms. This would involve an individual signing up for a service, for example banking, indicating who their trusted friends and family are, and using this network to identify themselves if they lose their password.

“This will also tie into the conversation around user ownership of data which will continue to be a talking point in 2022. With the public becoming increasingly aware of who has the rights to their digital identity, social based account recovery mechanisms will provide them with a way to take back control over who verifies their online presence.”

3. Businesses will attach value to data in 2022 as a way of building public trust

“As the hybrid world continues to be the new norm and everything around us becomes increasingly digitalised, public consciousness of digital identity has become more prevalent than ever. With this awareness there has also been an increase in mistrust towards technology, due to factors such as misinformation and fake news. Consumers are becoming aware of their privacy and wanting to understand what companies are doing with their data.

“This can lead to individuals intentionally providing bad data, for example using a spam email address to sign-up for a service. This becomes a problem as suddenly our digital identities lose value and synthetic identities are created.

“To combat this, in 2022 we can expect to see discussions around how users could be incentivised to share their real data. The way for organisations to do this is by treating data as a proper commodity and attaching value to it. This will enable them to open an honest dialogue with consumers about the importance of their data and start to build public trust.”

4. In 2022, Artificial Intelligence will be used to authenticate identity management

“Over the last few years there have been many products that are being developed with the notion of orchestrating identity access management. This involves applications that allow organisations to manage business logic around factors such as how customer journeys should be handled, what third party systems should be called, and setting conditions about what should happen along the business journey.

“The current benefit of orchestration is that it allows companies to manage identity access in one location, but the next evolution of that is going to be the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the process of authenticating identity management. This means that rather than having to review the above factors manually, companies will set certain boundaries and let the system decide for them within those boundaries.

“This will really start to drive efficiencies when it comes to the cost of operations of systems in enterprises. It will also allow for systems to make learned decisions dependent on the risk appetite and cross-considerations a modern enterprise wants to design for their identity access management systems.”