UK watchdog says digital identity can be built with existing foundations

Digital identity can help the UK deliver public services, reduce fraud and increase efficiency, the UK’s independent public spending watchdog says in a new report. But those benefits are contingent on complex integrations over long periods of time, could take any of a wide range of forms, and are less likely if the technology is built too early in the process.

These are the key points in the 48-page “Lessons Learned” report from the National Audit Office (NAO) addresses the future of “managing digital identity” in the UK.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham scrapped plans for a government-issued digital identity intended to support public service delivery and help facilitate mandatory right-to-work checks as one his first actions in office in July. At that point, most of the NAO’s work in the report was complete. The GOV.UK app and digital wallet, the DVS Trust Framework and even the mobile driver’s license (mDL) are all still on the agenda.

NAO Head Gareth Davies notes in the report’s announcement that despite the program’s cancellation, “questions about how people can conveniently and securely prove who they are or something about themselves in a digital world remain relevant.”

The report explores what digital identity is, its current landscape in the UK and how it is likely to develop in the future. The fourth part addresses how to get value from those developments.

A little advice: properly is better

Future attempts to deliver digital identity in the UK should proceed based on defined objectives and explain how delivery choices will be made and legacy systems dealt with, the report says. They should also define priority use cases, along with funding, delivery and integration plans, and decide on the respective roles of the public and private sector.

The NAO says international experiences show that different countries often have success with systems that are different from those successful elsewhere.

That recognized, certain characteristics are common to those that are successful. The NAO finds clear law and policy, purpose and scope, sustainable funding and high-value use cases (perhaps like proof of age for alcohol purchases) all contribute to digital identity adoption and use. Digital identity adoption needs to go along with wider reforms in order “to deliver significant economic and social benefits.”

And the systems that get adopted tend to clearly define what the public and private are each supposed to do within them. Uncertainty in that area has been a nuisance to certified DVS providers since former PM Keir Starmer’s disastrous announcement of the scheme, and contributed to the recent closure of SQR.

Ultimately, the UK has digital identity foundations it can build on already in place, the NAO says.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  fraud prevention  |  government services  |  UK digital ID