Digital ID trade associations muster to confront govt over wallet wars

Members of the Association of Document Verification Professionals (ADVP), TechUK and Age Verification Providers’ Association (AVPA) have met ahead of the workshop planned with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) for May 14.

Iain Corby, executive director of AVPA, says members “had a passionate, but constructive meeting” covering key issues the industry hopes to address with government next week over the announcement of the Gov.uk Wallet and its implications for smaller businesses operating under the existing digital trust framework.

Corby notes the concern raised, perhaps inadvertently, by the suggestion that the wallet could become “significant new taxpayer-subsidised competition for existing trust framework digital verification services.”

The group discussed regulation and enforcement, cybersecurity and data sovereignty in the context of national security, public messaging around adoption, user trust, investor confidence – and, ultimately, a long term vision for the market. What mechanisms are in place to ensure fairness in the market, and who is responsible for enforcing them independently for any single solution? How will security be guaranteed if wallet platforms are hosted or integrated with infrastructure outside the UK? How will the government restore investor confidence after the Gov.uk Wallet disrupted previous expectations in the market? Indeed, is the government project intended to operate as part of the market – or will it “maintain and extend its monopoly on access to public services and Companies House?” And what about Big Tech?

Corby says “the industry will be looking for answers from the government next week, and our main priority will be a firm commitment to collaboration through a new joint working group, bringing together both government and industry stakeholders on a regular basis, and restoring the prized collaborative working relationship that has characterised our co-creation of the future of digital ID with the team at DSIT in the past.”

David Crack, chairperson for the ADVP, says the three membership bodies are working together very well, and “looks forward to that continuing beyond next week.”

Article Topics

ADVP  |  AVPA  |  Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT)  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF)  |  digital wallets  |  Gov.UK  |  GOV.UK Wallet  |  UK