OfDIA confirms commitment to DVS trust framework in annual report

A new annual report from the UK’s Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA) refreshes its commitment to support biometrics and digital identity providers certified under the Digital Verification Services (DVS) trust framework.

The report on the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 “sets out the government’s progress in establishing and maintaining the UK’s statutory regime for DVS providers who choose to be certified against government rules.”

It aims to help the government “identify where the operation of the trust ecosystem underpinned by the Act can continue to improve, including on data standards, vouching, inclusion and accessibility, and the way identities are checked digitally and linked to the right person.” The idea is to strengthen trust, consistency and inclusion across the DVS ecosystem.

OfDIA’s stock-taking arrives at a moment of particular significance, as the UK gets a new prime minister, the old one’s digital ID policy is in limbo, and the role of DVS providers teeters between bit part in a production anchored by government, Apple and Google, and a central position in the UK’s digital identity ecosystem, per the initial goal of the trust framework.

More stakeholder collaboration a priority

While political winds blow hither and thither across the DVS landscape, the market continues to make slow but steady progress. OfDIA points to the recently published 2026 Digital Identity Sectoral Analysis, which identified 275 firms providing digital identity products and services in the UK, generating an estimated £2.027 billion in annual revenue and supporting 9,624 full-time equivalent roles.

Growth, however, is sluggish – and OfDIA wants to help accelerate it, and to ensure the DVS trust framework and its supplementary codes keep pace with innovation in the sector. “The next phase will focus on scaling adoption and strengthening the regime,” it says. “Priorities include supporting certification against version 1.0 of the DVS trust framework, issuing the ‘UK CertifID’ trust mark for use by registered DVS providers, developing a machine-readable DVS register, implementing the information sharing power under section 45 of the Act, encouraging and supporting more CABs to participate in the market and consulting on future updates to the DVS trust framework.”

Future use cases include age assurance

Included in the report is a road map to OfDIA’s expected activity over the next twelve months.

Major milestones anticipated for the coming year include the ability for DVS providers to certify their services against version 1.0 of the DVS trust framework (which replaces the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework, or DIATF) – “now a mature set of rules which provides an essential basis for certified and registered DVS to operate in the market.”

There will also be an effort to loop in “a greater range of accredited conformity assessment bodies with the necessary resources and expertise to certify DVS providers against the DVS trust framework.” This is a key point for testing and evaluation firms, when taken together with OfDIA’s note that “independent certification plays an important role in the DVS ecosystem in the UK alongside the statutory regime under Part 2 of the Act.”

A machine-readable layer of the DVS register will be made available to support programmatic checking capabilities. Security and fraud sections of the DVS will be reviewed to ensure optimal security. And new use cases will continue to develop – notably, highly effective age assurance, which OfDIA has been tasked with defining in a clear, concrete manner.

“To enable adoption of registered DVS in the alcohol-purchasing use case and look toward further use cases that require age verification, OfDIA is exploring whether to publish new rules on trustworthy digital age verification checks,” the report says. “OfDIA is considering whether such rules would be best contained in a dedicated supplementary code for digital age verification.”

“OfDIA will also support government plans to prevent social media platforms from offering their services to under-16s, by exploring the role that trusted DVS providers could play in supporting highly effective age assurance checks.”

DVS regime must remain secure, inclusive, responsive

The agency intends to continue to explore whether further supplementary codes might drive adoption in additional use cases, to support public authorities and registered DVS providers in preparing for the commencement of the information gateway power, and to “begin engagement and consultation on the next version of the DVS trust framework as part of the annual review cycle.”

“Future work will consider whether further updates are needed to support new technologies, delivery models and service types, while maintaining appropriate protections for individuals and businesses.” The strategy reflects “OfDIA’s current priorities for strengthening the DVS ecosystem, which are to support adoption across the economy, improve the certification and registration processes for DVS providers, and ensure that the DVS regime remains secure, inclusive and responsive to emerging risks.”

The report will surely be welcomed by industry advocates seeking more certainty about the government’s commitment to the UK’s private digital identity sector. Indeed, the change of guard at Downing Street presents an opportunity to reset the discussion – and DVS providers have, in recent weeks, sought a more collaborative dialogue with the government in building the UK’s  digital identity ecosystem. The future, as such, remains open, and OfDIA remains committed (on paper, at least) to the DVS.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  digital verification service (DVS)  |  DVS Trust Framework  |  OfDIA  |  UK digital ID