The U.K. government has published formal feedback to the consultation on digital identity which assessed improvements for future digital trust legislation.
The UK digital identity and attributes trust framework will lay the groundwork for increased acceptance of digital identities across the UK by introducing accreditation and certification of digital identification service providers.
In the introductory foreword, Julia Lopez, who is MP, Minister of State for Media, Data, and Digital Infrastructure at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and Heather Wheeler MP, Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office also referenced the government’s connected policy initiatives to transform both digital access in the public sector and private sector.
One example of this is the government’s One Login program to provide a single login and streamline 144 existing route ways for citizens to validate their identity to access government services.
Moreover, the statement read that from 6 April 2022, landlords and employers would be able to use certified biometric technology to digitally conduct right to work and right to rent check, although physical checks which were largely paused during the pandemic could resume.
The proposal for digital ID will verify people not only domestically but across borders to facilitate international trade and allow businesses to protect their assets. The initiatives and greater spending on digital ID is based on the principles of ensuring “privacy, inclusivity, transparency, interoperability, proportionality and good governance”.
“Trust is essential for driving innovation, and it is vital that digital identities can be trusted by business, public bodies and most importantly by individual users. These principles and the proposals contained in this document will ensure people can trust digital identities”.
With parliamentary approval, the government in time will pass a robust accreditation and certification process for businesses to earn a trust mark to demonstrate their compliance and trust in turn for allowing trusted organisations to complete checks against government stored data.
The proposals from the July 2021 digital identity consultation were repeated under three objectives to set up a trusted digital identity market for the UK economy.
Proposal 1: Creating a digital identity and attributes governance framework
Proposal 2: Enabling a legal gateway between public and private sector organisations for data checking
Proposal 3: Establishing the validity of digital identities and attributes
From 270 responses received , which did not all thoroughly engage with the outcomes of the consultation, 134 (50%) indicated they were against delivering digital identity policies in principle.
On equalising digital and physical forms of identification, 92% of respondents agreed that it would be beneficial to assert that digital identity is just as effective as physical identity.
There was also a larger response agreeing with the transfer of government-held attributes and data to share with businesses and other public sector services but if they sign up for membership of the trust framework.
