Search for clarity on UK digital ID leads to trial pitch, consultation proposals

Confusion has covered the UK’s digital identity plans like a morning fog over London. How the UK’s digital ID system will work, who will make it work and even why it is being introduced is unknown or obscure, leading to many unproductive debates and more waiting for information until the Cabinet Office consultation is complete.

Some of the pertinent questions can be answered through a trial, an opinion piece in Computer Weekly argues. Authors James Findlay and Jerry Fishenden, both of whom have CTO and CIO experience, have the Isle of Wight in mind as a proving ground. Findlay worked in the UK’s public sector, and advocates for the Isle of White to be designated a “Special Policy Zone” for government trials more broadly.

With a population of 140,000 connected to the UK mainland only by three ferry gateways, the Isle of Wight offers the combination of scale and control that trialing a beta version of the UK digital ID would require, Findlay and Fishenden write.

A trial in a controlled environment could help answer questions that a sandbox or simulation cannot, they argue, such as the role of private sector technology providers certified under the Digital Verification Services (DVS) Trust Framework. It could also help avoid the pitfalls that doomed the UK’s last attempt to set up a national digital identity, GOV.UK Verify, after a decade.

Cabinet Office proposals provide clues

The digital ID proposals the UK Cabinet Office is consulting with the public about tell Consult Hyperion SVP for Digital Identity Steve Pannifer that the credential will expand access to financial services for people without a passport or driver’s license by enabling them to complete biometric KYC checks remotely.

The financial services sector may want to consider engaging with the consultation to support the issuance of “anchor documents” such as mobile driving licenses (mDLs) as verifiable credentials to expand user choice, Pannifer writes in an opinion piece for UK Finance. Coordination between digital identity policy and payment infrastructure and alignment with international standards would also be in the best interest of financial service providers.

The private sector has a key role to play, according to Pannifer, so he welcomes the recognition in the proposals that credentials can be issued into third-party digital wallets.

Financial services companies may therefore also want to promote the issuance of those credentials into digital wallets provided by the private sector, which would encourage competition and scale.

Consult Hyperion was acquired by biometrics, digital identity and payment technology test lab Fime in 2024.

Article Topics

Consult Hyperion  |  digital identity  |  digital verification service (DVS)  |  financial services  |  UK digital ID