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Digital Identity Sovereignty Act DigiSelf Takes Effect in EU: Citizens Gain Full Control Over Personal Data Boundaries for the First Time

The EU's Digital Identity Sovereignty Act (DigiSelf) has officially taken effect, granting every citizen complete control over their digital identity and prohibiting platforms from cross-service use of user data without explicit authorization.

Digital Identity Sovereignty Act DigiSelf Takes Effect in EU: Citizens Gain Full Control Over Personal Data Boundaries for the First Time

On June 19, 2030, the European Union's Digital Identity Sovereignty Act (DigiSelf) officially took effect. Dubbed "the most radical privacy law of the digital age," the legislation grants every EU citizen complete control over their digital identity for the first time — from names and addresses to behavioral data and social connections. All personal-related data must now be stored in a citizen-managed "digital identity wallet."

DigiSelf's core principle is "data follows the person." Previously, data left behind when users registered on different platforms was scattered across companies' servers, leaving users with no real control over how their data was used. DigiSelf requires all online services to read data from users' digital identity wallets rather than storing it themselves.

"Your Amazon purchase history, your Google search history, your social graph on Instagram — all of this data now lives in your own wallet," said EU Digital Policy Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. "Platforms need to request access from you, and you can revoke it at any time."

The impact on tech giants has been enormous. Meta, Google, and Amazon have been given 18 months to complete data migration, transferring all EU user data from their own servers to user-selected digital identity wallets. Companies that violate the law face fines of up to 10% of global revenue.

On the technical side, DigiSelf is built on decentralized identity (DID) standards and blockchain verifiable credential technology. Every EU citizen will receive a free digital identity wallet operated by EU-certified third-party providers. Seventeen providers have already passed certification.

Initial user feedback has been mixed. Privacy advocates have praised DigiSelf as "a milestone for digital human rights," but some users have complained about the complexity — every time they use a new service, they must manually authorize data access. Small businesses have also expressed concern that compliance costs could run into the hundreds of thousands of euros.

Regulators in the United States and Japan have indicated they are closely monitoring DigiSelf's implementation and may draft similar legislation based on its results.