Could become core digital infrastructure
At Program No. 02 on work in 2026 of the Central Steering Committee for Science, Technology Development, Innovation and Digital Transformation, the Ministry of Public Security is assigned to preside over advising and submitting to the Government for promulgation a resolution on developing digital citizens in February 2026.
According to the draft resolution developed by the Ministry of Public Security, VNeID will be expanded with utilities such as national e-wallets, digital payments, personal digital signatures, personal data warehouses, official email addresses for each citizen and social network (SNS) development.
The Ministry of Public Security believes that social networks developed by private enterprises are generating virtual accounts, fake news, and fraud, while the State lacks a legitimate, two-way communication channel to communicate policies and receive feedback. Building VNeID into a "super application" aims to create a social network where 100% of users are authenticated through electronic identification, and at the same time become an official channel for citizens to contribute opinions and state agencies to notify and handle fake news.
Talking to Lao Dong, network security expert Ngo Minh Hieu assessed that this is a trend suitable for the national digital transformation. However, he said that this is a model that concentrates data at a very high level. When integrating many services in the same ecosystem, network security and data leakage risks will increase sharply. If not designed according to the "security by design" principle from the beginning, the system can become an attractive attack target.
Mr. Hieu mentioned 4 groups of security requirements including: Comprehensive encryption; data separation and minimization; multi-layer authentication and anti-account appropriation; auditing and transparency, including periodic independent audits and publicizing data management policies.
Regarding the goal of 100% identity verification, he said that this helps significantly reduce virtual accounts and large-scale scams due to increased crime costs. However, identity verification is not a "panacea" because fake news can still originate from real accounts or real accounts that are embezzled. According to him, it is necessary to combine an AI-based harmful content detection system, a transparent processing mechanism and improve digital awareness for people.
Need to balance transparency of identity and privacy
Technology expert Tran Hai Long (AI Scientist, Brickteck JSC) said that mandatory identity verification can reduce virtual accounts, impersonation and fraud because each account is associated with the real identity and can be traced when violated.
However, he warned that when the system collects and processes personal data on a large scale, the risk of leakage or illegal exploitation will increase if there is no strong enough security mechanism, especially when identification data is interconnected with many services.
According to Mr. Tran Hai Long, it is necessary to be transparent about the type of information collected, the purpose of use, storage time and sharing scope; and at the same time give users the right to control data such as tracking access, limiting sharing or hiding unnecessary information. He proposed separating the minimum between identification data and social network activities, only confirming that the identified account is valid instead of displaying all personal data.
He also emphasized that there needs to be an independent monitoring mechanism to ensure access and use of data for the right purpose, avoiding abuse. The process of designing policies and technical infrastructure needs to consider protecting the legitimate freedom of expression, while ensuring compliance with the law in the digital environment.
