Estonian E-Residency and Conceptions of Platform-Based State-Individual Relationship

This study explores how government-supported digital ID systems evoke novel conceptions of platform-based state-individual relationship by drawing on the concept of platformization and Estonian e-residency as the empirical case. E-residency is a policy concept introduced by the Estonian government, which allows foreigners to apply for a state-issued digital ID in order to gain remote access to Estonian public and private e-services. Based on qualitative interviews with individuals having an e-resident digi-ID, we examine the ways in which they construe e-residency from the perspective of state-individual relationship. Our findings indicate that apart from a transactional service-based relationship, being an e-resident can also imply a sense of membership in the state and thus serve as a basis for transnational belonging. Hence, the digital state is not only perceived as a platform manager and a service provider, but also as a membership organisation enacting its rules of inclusion through its digital ID schemes.