TrustED is trialling new technologies to verify identities and eligibility whilst sharing only the necessary information
From open-source cryptographic libraries to field trials in European Data Spaces, the Horizon Europe project TrustED is charting a course towards a new model of digital trust. In recent years, there has been much talk of digital sovereignty and how the European Union is seeking to give citizens back control over their personal data. With the 2026 deadline for the roll-out of the EU Digital Identity Wallet now on the horizon, the real challenge is no longer merely regulatory or theoretical, but technological and practical. It is precisely within this context that the TrustED project comes into its own; recently, it has taken a decisive step forward by taking its tools out of the research laboratories to test them in the field.
One of the most interesting developments concerns what happens ‘behind the scenes’ when it comes to our privacy. When we use an online service or prove our identity today, we are often forced to share the entire document or a complete set of data, revealing far more than is actually necessary. To overcome this limitation, the TrustED team has developed and published, free of charge on GitHub, the open-source library libbbs.
Based on an innovative cryptographic signature architecture (BBS+), this technology enables the principle of so-called selective disclosure: in simple terms, it allows you to prove that you meet a certain requirement (for example, being of legal age or residing in a specific country) without ever having to reveal irrelevant data such as your exact date of birth or home address.
“The aim is not just to protect data, but to change the underlying logic: it is no longer up to us to hand over our information, but rather the systems verify only what is needed, when it is needed.” But TrustED’s work does not stop at cryptographic theory. The project will shortly enter the real-world validation phase within the European Data Spaces. This means that Sovereign Identity (SSI) technologies, secure facial biometrics and federated processing protocols are being put to the test in concrete operational scenarios, covering sensitive areas such as public services, the financial sector and healthcare. For example, through federated verification mechanisms, work is underway to enable the verification of financial or employment requirements – such as checking a payslip for a loan or tenancy application – without sensitive documents having to be transmitted or stored on external servers.
In this way, by combining advanced research with practical experimentation and working closely with cloud providers’ infrastructure and European industry associations, TrustED is proving to be a key piece of the European digital puzzle: a living laboratory that demonstrates how security, ease of use and privacy protection can finally go hand in hand.
