UK action plans for digital inclusion spotlights in-person identity proofing

The UK’s plan to make public service delivery more effective and efficient as part of its overall digital growth strategy will make it better for both the government and Britons the more people are participating. With that in mind, the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) and four others have published a “Digital Inclusion Action Plan.”

Nearly a quarter of the people living in the UK are considered to have the lowest level of digital capability, and 1.6 million are not even online, according to the document. Considering the ambitions of the digital reform of public services led by the Government Digital Service (GDS), these people will have to find either accessing digital services or alternative arrangements easier.

The partnership between Gov.uk One Login and the Post Office is offered up as a best practice case study for what such an alternative could look like. The partnership involves the use of Yoti’s face biometrics to carry out identity proofing for people who want to use One Login but struggle to prove their identity through the app or browser.

The system has successfully onboarded more than 30,000 people so far, the plan document states, giving them access to Basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks and Veterans Cards, among other services. An accessibility survey from GDS last year indicated that 63 percent of users could complete the identity verification process through a web browser, but verifications at post offices were successful 92 percent of the time.

The plan includes the launch of a Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund to support local initiatives to boost the adoption of online services, device donation scheme to provide re-purposed government laptops to people in need in collaboration with the Digital Poverty Alliance, and the establishment of a Digital Inclusion Action Committee to monitor progress.

The number of services using Gov.uk One Login should be increased.

The plan also includes a proposal for industry partners to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) level AA requirements.

Digital ID service providers certified under the UK’s DIATF are already required to follow it, although the second annual inclusion monitoring report from the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA) shows just over half could confirm their compliance.

The government has also launched a draft code of practice for enforcement of failures to comply with the eVisa scheme the UK is transitioning to from biometric residence permits, which emphasizes easing compliance for those facing barriers to using the digital systems.

Choice and inclusion

At a certain point, inclusivity also takes in willingness to adopt.

Yoti CEO Robin Tombs writes in a blog post that people in the UK will likely own a reusable digital ID in the form of a government-issued ID, a native device digital wallet supplied by Apple or Google, or a wallet provided by a certified private sector provider. Among those latter wallets, some will be networked, he says, and some will not.

“There are some interactions between individuals and some organisations, both UK and non-UK based, where many individuals will want to avoid, or won’t be able to use, their government-issued digital ID app. Others won’t believe any promise that the Government or security services make about not looking at users’ interactions. As a result, these users will want to use a private digital ID wallet when they can.”

But digital wallets from private sector providers that are not networked will struggle to reach the amount of market coverage that makes them worthwhile for businesses to integrate. The market in any one country will likely only support two such networks, Tombs believes.

Here, Yoti’s partnership with the Post Office comes back in. Tombs suggests consumers can quickly switch to networked digital IDs like his company’s, the Post Office EasyID or the Lloyds Bank Smart ID Yoti is partnered on.

Article Topics

accessibility  |  Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT)  |  digital government  |  Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF)  |  digital inclusion  |  Gov.UK  |  identity proofing  |  UK  |  Yoti