ADVP and NO2ID back DVS framework from opposing perspectives

The UK’s Digital Verification Service (DVS) trust framework is drawing support from both industry and long-time critics of centralized identity — a convergence explored in the latest episode of the Biometric Update Podcast.

David Crack, chair of the Association of Document Verification Professionals (ADVP) has been busy advocating for providers verified under the Digital Verification Service (DVS) trust framework, but credits for the whole scheme to someone who’s now on his second generation of digital identity debate (at least).

Phil Booth is the national coordinator of the NO2ID campaign. “I’m going to embarrass Phil now,” Crack says, “because the reason for the DVS sector existing, and the reason why this whole industry has come about, is because of Phil, and the campaign that he did back under the Tony Blair government.”

Indeed, NO2ID argues that the kind of centralized national digital identity scheme that the former UK prime minister and his namesake institute have championed cannot be successful in the UK without creating massive risks to democracy and human rights. Its slogan is “stop the database state.”

Booth says “the whole premise of these centralized systems that we see, not just in the UK, but all around the world, is this sort of ‘one ring to rule them all’ type thinking, which has and does play out badly – maybe not for everyone, but for many people and many groups and for many reasons.”

On the other hand, “we understand that we live in a world in which we need to prove all sorts of things about ourselves to various levels of assurance when and where appropriate, and to do it in hopefully a minimally disclosive way – but the crucial thing being that we, the citizens of the individual, are in control of our data.”

Crack believes certified UK DVS providers have the tools to facilitate this. In a wide ranging conversation that features lizard people, Winston Churchill, and an ode to the UK National Health Service, Crack and Booth debate what a good digital ID looks like for the UK.

The full conversation is available on the latest episode of the Biometric Update Podcast.

Listen now: Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Podbean

Runtime: 00:39:59

Article Topics

ADVP  |  David Crack  |  digital ID  |  digital verification service (DVS)  |  DVS Trust Framework  |  NO2ID  |  UK digital ID