Digital Identity Verification Reform
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has announced plans to develop proposals for a legal framework to remove regulatory barriers which prevent the use of secure digital identities and establish safeguards for citizens - after conducting a call for evidence last year.
If reforms are successful, it could mean that the need to produce original official documents in order to prove identity may become obsolete. One of the examples cited as a benefit is in relation to buying and selling property, in which an individual may be asked to prove their identity multiple times as part of the same transaction (e.g. to their bank, conveyancer and estate agent) adding additional time and stress to an already lengthy process. Effective use of digital identities would simplify this.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport will now conduct a consultation to consider:
● developing legislation for consumer protection relating to digital identity
● specific rights for individuals
● an ability to seek redress if something goes wrong
● set out where the responsibility for oversight should lie
● appropriate privacy and technical standards for administering and processing secure digital identities.
The response, published on 1 September, sets out The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport’s desire to “develop the next generation of digital identity use in government, and promote a pragmatic approach to international digital identity standards”.
Posted on 09/11/2020 by Ortolan
