Toward Ethical Onboarding: A Framework for Responsible Digital Identity Verification

This open-access preprint introduces a normative framework for ethically responsible onboarding in digital KYC systems. It addresses cognitive and contextual vulnerabilities, proposing principles such as autonomy, fairness, and harm reduction. Drawing from ethics, law, and digital governance, the paper offers actionable guidance for policymakers, fintech developers, and regulators. Aligned with MiCA, DORA, and GDPR, it contributes to the European discourse on responsible digital identity. This version has been formally published on SSRN (Abstract ID: 5399221) as part of the FutureFinTech Working Paper Series and is mirrored on Zenodo to support open-access dissemination and citation