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The UK government has announced a new bill to support digital ID products and services from certified providers. The Digital Information and Smart Data Bill is one of 39 legislative initiatives presented in the King’s Speech on Wednesday, outlining plans for the recently elected Labour government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the new parliamentary year.
This bill aims to enhance digital verification services, enabling people to prove information about themselves more efficiently and facilitating smoother online transactions. These transactions include activities like moving house, pre-employment checks, and purchasing age-restricted goods and services. Additionally, the bill seeks to reduce the burden on businesses by cutting costs, saving time, and minimizing data leakage.
Certification for digital service providers in the UK is based on the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF). Trade bodies and digital identity providers have urged the new government to solidify the DIATF’s legal role.
The government estimates that the economic benefits of secure digital identities could reach around £600 million (US$778.1 million) per year.
“Digital Verification Services will help people and businesses to make the most of identity-checking technologies with confidence and peace of mind,” the document states.
The Digital Information and Smart Data Bill (DISD) also proposes reforms in data sharing and standards, giving the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) stronger powers. Other goals include improving digital public services and establishing Smart Data schemes that allow customers to share their data with authorized third-party providers (ATPs). However, the document lacks details on how the data will be stored, shared, and used.
The bill comes amid ongoing debates within the new Labour government about introducing digital identity. After former Prime Minister Tony Blair suggested digital IDs as a solution to controlling irregular migration, the Labour government ruled out national ID cards. The stance on digital certificates remains unclear.
UK lawmakers and experts have argued that some form of digital identity is inevitable, though public persuasion may be necessary. The Digital Information and Smart Data Bill follows the failure of the Data Protection and Digital Information (DPDI) Bill, which was abandoned in May. That bill would have eliminated the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner Role, which is not addressed in the King’s Speech.
A public opinion survey on the DPDI Bill released in February by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology found ongoing concerns about identity fraud, theft, and government overreach. Another issue cited was the fear that digital identity services could become mandatory over time and that large companies not based in the UK might access their data.
Despite these concerns, some commentators are optimistic about the UK’s digital ID path. Prime Minister Starmer’s government seeks closer relations with the European Union than the previous Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak, which may prompt the UK to consider the EU’s digital identity interoperability project more closely, according to Tracey Follows, CEO of consultancy Futuremade.
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