Today the government has published a public consultation on further proposals to build trust in and enable the voluntary use of digital identity and attribute services in the UK. This follows on from the commitments made in the Digital Identity Call for Evidence response published in September 2020, and the draft UK digital identity and attributes trust framework published in February this year.
Whether someone wants to prove who they are when starting a job, moving house or transacting online, they should have the option to do so quickly and securely using digital solutions.
The proposals contained in the consultation document are built on the back of extensive engagement with the private sector, civil society and academia. Digital identity products and services have the potential to increase security and privacy as well as save time and money for people and businesses. That’s why it’s so important to get our proposals right.
We do not plan to mandate digital identities in any way – just to enable this critical infrastructure so that people who want to prove their identity online can do so easily.
Respondents to the Call for Evidence told us that legislation is necessary to boost the development of a secure and trusted digital identity market, and give individuals more choice about how they prove things about themselves with ease and confidence. This formal pre-legislative consultation will help shape our proposals around three main issues:
- establishing governance to make sure rules and standards set out in the trust framework are being followed
- making it possible for more trusted data sets to be checked so people can more easily prove things about themselves as they create a digital identity
- building confidence in the legal validity of digital identities
I am excited to continue our engagement using this consultation to shape the next stage of Digital Identity legislative proposals, and ensure that the needs of people are at the heart of the development of digital identity in the UK.
Find out more about the consultation and how you can respond via the online survey.