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Digital ID in the UK

What is digital ID?

A digital identity (ID) is a digital representation of a person used to verify who they are or facts about them in online and physical interactions.

Potential benefits

Digital identity systems can offer efficiency, fraud reduction and privacy protection (PDF).

These benefits derive in part from the fact that digital IDs can be ‘reusable’. A digital identity service provider verifies an individual’s documents, then issues them with a ‘verified credential’ confirming that facts about them (such as their name and age) are true. In the future, the individual will be able to share the verified credential, rather than their identity documents. If organisations accept that the digital identity service provider has authoritatively verified the individual’s identity, they do not need to do it again themselves.

Reusable digital IDs enable data minimisation. For example, a credential might confirm that an individual is over 18 without also revealing their date of birth or actual age.

These systems do not necessarily require a government-issued digital ID. They also do not necessarily need a centralised database. Rather, digital ID systems can be decentralised. Verified credentials are held on the user’s phone, while their personal data remains with the authority that issued their identity document.

Potential risks

Privacy groups including Privacy International and Big Brother Watch have highlighted the risks in digital identity systems, including: data breaches, user profiling, surveillance, exclusion and function creep (where a digital ID becomes mandatory in more scenarios than originally proposed).

Decentralised systems may mitigate some of these risks, but concerns remain about usage tracking and unique identifiers. Big Brother Watch stresses that even decentralised systems can behave like centralised ones if identifiers link data across platforms.

UK Government policy on digital ID

Regulatory support for the private sector

Digital verification services are already used in the UK. They are offered by the private sector on a voluntary basis. The UK digital verification services sector generated £2 billion in revenue in 2024/25.

Successive governments have sought to support the adoption of private sector digital IDs by developing the UK digital verification services trust framework. The trust framework sets standards for digital identity service providers in areas such as privacy, cybersecurity and inclusivity. It is intended to ensure that individuals and businesses can trust and rely on digital ID services. Only providers who are certified against the trust framework will be able to access government-held data for the purpose of identity verification.

The government is working on changes to legislation and guidance to clarify that digital IDs can be used in interactions such as purchasing alcohol and carrying out anti-money laundering checks.

Public sector initiatives

The government is developing two related digital identity services:

• UK One Login: a single account system for accessing government services, replacing over 190 separate login systems.
• UK Wallet: an app for storing government-issued digital documents. The government is working on creating digital versions of all official documents, starting with the Veterans Card and driving licence.

These are separate to the national digital ID scheme and there is no indication they are affected by its cancellation.

Immigration status and right-to-work checks

The government tells employers to check whether the people they hire have the right to work in the UK. While these right-to-work checks are not compulsory as such, companies found to have hired an unauthorised worker without checking their status can be fined up to £45,000 for a first breach.

For most migrants in the UK, the only valid form of right-to-work check is done online. The employee provides the employer with a ‘share code’ which can be used to view the person’s eVisa (a digital record of immigration status) through gov.uk. Physical residence permits are no longer valid.

Existing private sector digital identity services can currently be used for right-to-work checks for people with a British or Irish passport.

Proposals for a national digital ID have been cancelled

The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has confirmed his government has cancelled the previous administration’s plans for a national digital ID.

• 26 September 2025: Sir Keir Starmer, then the Prime Minister, announces plans for a national digital ID to tackle illegal immigration.
• 8 December 2025: the House of Commons debates an e-petition opposing the digital ID, which had reached almost 3 million signatures. All opposition parties, and many Labour MPs, criticise the policy.
• 15 January 2026: the government confirms it would drop the mandatory element of the digital ID.
• 10 March 2026: the government publishes a consultation setting out its proposals for the digital ID, framing it as a way of improving access to, and the quality of, public services.
• 5 May 2026: the consultation closes. The government prepares to convene a ‘People’s Panel for Digital ID’, where 100 to 120 people were selected to hear evidence and give feedback.
• 21 July 2026: the new Burnham Labour Government announces it has cancelled the digital ID programme.

Political and public reactions to the proposals

Proposals for a national digital ID scheme have previously been made by think tanks including Labour Together and the Tony Blair Institute. Editorials in national newspapers have expressed some support for these proposals.

Opposition parties and civil liberties groups spoke out against the Starmer Government’s scheme. They cited concerns about surveillance, data breaches and digital exclusion. A parliamentary petition against mandatory digital ID gathered almost 3 million signatures.

The tech industry was critical of the government’s narrative surrounding digital ID, arguing that the private sector is already delivering privacy-preserving digital ID services. Trade groups expressed concern that the government’s scheme could crowd out private sector alternatives.

The House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee’s report on digital ID was critical of the government’s “back-to-front” approach to developing the national digital ID policy. The initial announcement was “rushed, poorly thought through and failed to make a convincing case for the introduction of mandatory digital ID”, while the decision to drop the mandatory element revealed the “incoherence of its policy-making process”.