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Research & Analysis Published 23 Mar 2026 House of Commons Library ↗ View on Parliament

Digital ID in the UK

Type: Commons Briefing Paper (CBP-10369) The government is consulting on plans for a national digital ID scheme. This briefing explains what digital ID is and summarises the debates around it.

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↓ CBP-10369.pdf
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Digital ID in the UK - House of Commons Library

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What is digital ID?

Digital identity (ID) refers to 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
.

Existing 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 £2.1 billion in revenue in 2023/24
.

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 unified account system for accessing government services, replacing over 190 separate login systems.

UK Wallet
: an app for storing government-issued documents like driving licences.

These are separate to the digital ID scheme announced in September 2025, although that scheme will build on GOV.UK One Login and GOV.UK Wallet.

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

On 26 September 2025, Prime Minister
Sir Keir Starmer announced a digital ID scheme
. The government initially said the digital ID would be mandatory for proving the right to work, as a way of tackling illegal immigration. However, the mandatory element of the scheme was dropped following a political and public backlash. The messaging around the scheme has since shifted to user convenience and improving public services.

The government published a
consultation on the scheme
in March 2026. It said the digital ID would be designed based on three principles: first, it must be useful, in terms of being widely usable across the economy and public services; second, it must be inclusive, in terms of being freely available and accessible to people who lack identity documents or are digitally excluded; third, it must be trusted, in terms of having “robust privacy, resilience and security measures that put people in control”.

The digital ID
will be built ‘in-house’
by the government. There will
be no centralised database
containing everyone’s personal information: data will remain with the organisations that currently hold it.

The government has not said how much the scheme will cost, arguing that this will
depend on design choices
made following the consultation. It has rejected a
cost estimate from the Office for Budget Responsibility of £1.8 billion
. The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has been
critical of the government’s failure
to address questions about cost.

Political and public reactions

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 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. Critics have also questioned whether the scheme will help reduce illegal immigration, arguing that
unscrupulous employers will have no more incentive to carry out right-to-work checks
than they do today.

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

Politicians
,
civil liberties groups
, and
industry stakeholders
all welcomed the news that the digital ID would not be mandatory.