UK Sets Stage for Future Digital ID Legislation and Data Use

The U.K. government is seeking public comment on how to make it easier to prove one’s identity online.

Consumers can comment on the draft legislation through March 1. The proposal‘s goal is to improve data sharing and how data is used in the public sector, including which regulators would have access to the data and its use.

The consultation is the latest in the U.K.’s efforts to shape a framework for digital IDs. Last year, the country published the results of an earlier consultation that set the stage for future legislation and will form the country’s digital identity framework as it is developed and rolled out.

In a foreword to that paper, Julia Lopez, minister of state for media, data and digital infrastructure and Heather Wheeler, parliamentary secretary, explained why the government is creating a digital identity framework.

“It is essential that people from all walks of life have the secure means and the confidence to prove things about themselves in [the] digital environment, and for others to be able to trust that proof as easily when transacting online as they do when dealing with others in the physical world,” they wrote.

Drawing on responses to its consultation, the government has established legislative measures it will seek to introduce “when parliamentary time allows.”

These measures include:

• Creating a governance framework to oversee the accreditation and certification of digital identification service providers.
• Creating a “permissive legal gateway” to will allow trusted private sector organizations to check data held by public bodies for identity verification.
• Establishing that digital identities and attributes have the same validity as physical proofs of ID, such as a passport.

Around the world, governments are developing schemes allowing citizens to verify their identities online.

For example, the Kenyan government has recently moved to breathe new life into attempts to create a nationwide digital identity framework.

However, as PYMNTS has reported, privacy advocates have objected to previous attempts in Kenya to create a social security number-style unique personal identifier that can track citizens across government databases.

Similar objections to compulsory unique personal identifiers have also been voiced in the U.K. The government has insisted that no digital identity scheme will be mandatory.

“Many of the individuals who responded to the consultation said they were against digital identities in principle,” the consultation paper stated.

It adds that “the government has heard this and has no plans to make the use of digital identities compulsory. The government also understands that there is no public support for ID cards in the UK and has no plans to introduce ID cards.” 

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