Digital ID services coming from private sector with government action in Australia, UK

The government of Australia is planning legislation to allow private sector organizations like banks to act as digital identity providers in the country, ZDNet writes.

The idea is to provide alternatives to the myGovID developed by the Australian Taxation Office or the Australia Post Digital ID. Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) Chief Digital Officer Peter Alexander told Senate Estimates that in the future people in the country may have choices provided by state or territory governments, in addition to private service providers.

Alexander also confirmed plans to provide a service for Australians to take a biometric selfie for matching against a passport image to anchor digital identity.

“In time, that will be able to match the other biometrics that are held like driver’s licences, working with vulnerable children — whatever biometric is held,” Alexander told Senate Estimates, per ZDNet.

The legislation proposes to extend the Trusted Digital Identity Framework, which sets the operating model and rules for operation of digital identity systems provided by the federal government, to state and territory governments and the private sector.

Alexander suggested that a major awareness-raising campaign would not be necessary, as digital identity and authentication services have been readily adopted by consumers when rolled out for different sectors.

UK trade body wins grant for digital ID proof of concept

The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA) has been awarded a £340,000 (US$438,000) grant from Innovate UK to support its plans to roll out a digital identity scheme for consumer financial services,  according to FTAdviser.

TISA is a financial services industry trade body, and was awarded the grant to lead consumer and technical testing of its digital ID concept. The single credential could be used by an individual when switching from one service to another or applying for a product.

TISA Director for Digital Innovation Harry Weber-Brown said the service could make consumer experiences more secure, fast and simple, while service providers would gain in customer satisfaction, higher conversion rates and lower costs for account opening and transfers.

While the digital ID scheme would be designed for use in the UK, it would also “international operable,” Weber-Brown says.

Based on data from The Open Identity Exchange, TISA says up to £8.5 billion (US$11 billion) in fraud could be saved with widely-adopted digital ID.

Article Topics

Australia  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  credentials  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  financial services  |  government services  |  identity verification  |  UK