The Potential Justification for Digital ID from Tony Blair's Perspective
The United Kingdom is actively developing a national digital identity infrastructure, with a proposed mandatory verifiable digital identity credential called the BritCard at its core. This digital ID aims to function as a National Entitlement Scheme, leveraging modern cryptographic technologies like zero-knowledge proofs and verifiable credentials to provide strong authentication and user control.
Government initiatives, such as the rollout of GOV.UK One Login, are aimed at unifying digital identity, signalling a broader push toward unified digital ID in public services. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 has established a trust framework, setting standards for digital identity service providers, with over 50 providers currently independently certified against this framework.
Integration of digital identity technologies with anti-money laundering (AML) compliance is another key aspect, enhancing verification processes to improve financial crime prevention. However, delays in completing the public sector digital ID system rollout have pushed full implementation across central government departments beyond 2025.
For fintech, a robust national digital identity system could streamline customer onboarding (Know Your Customer, KYC), reduce fraud, and enhance AML compliance by providing trusted, verifiable identity data directly integrated into financial services platforms. Sectors such as housing, employment, and healthcare could also benefit from reduced administrative burden and more secure, privacy-preserving identity verification processes.
The adoption of open standards like OpenID for verifiable presentations may facilitate interoperability and innovation across sectors. Ukraine, for instance, has managed to deploy a working national digital ID system despite continuous cyberattacks, offering a testament to the resilience of such systems.
However, the media has expressed concerns about the government's track record with major IT projects and the potential security risks of a digital ID system. The new digital identity infrastructure is considered vital national infrastructure for supporting the transition to a new economy.
The development of the BritCard and the broader digital identity infrastructure is a significant step forward for the UK, with the potential to transform fintech and other industries by improving identity verification, compliance, and user control. As the project progresses, addressing concerns about security and ensuring seamless integration with existing systems will be crucial to its success.
- The use of the BritCard, along with other digital identity technologies, could facilitate improved authentication and authorisation in personal-finance sectors, streamlining Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, reducing fraud, and enhancing anti-money laundering (AML) compliance.
- The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 has created a trust framework aimed at standardising digital identity service providers in public services and business, with over 50 providers currently certified against this framework.
- As the UK's digital identity infrastructure evolves, it is essential to ensure seamless integration with technology like data-and-cloud-computing and modern cryptographic technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs and verifiable credentials for unified digital ID across various industries, including fintech, housing, healthcare, and employment.
