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"Digital ID" has become one of those phrases that means three different things depending on who is talking. There is GOV.UK One Login, which already exists and is how you sign in to a growing list of government services. There is the GOV.UK Wallet, which exists but so far holds a single document. And there is the national digital ID announced in September 2025, which does not exist yet, is now voluntary, and is still at the consultation stage. Much of the past year's confusion comes from mixing the three up.
This piece separates them, using only what the government, Parliament, the regulator and one named critic had put on the record by 25 August 2026. Where something is only proposed, we say so.
GOV.UK One Login — live now
One Login is a single account for government services. The March 2026 consultation document describes it as letting people "prove their identity once before using that digital identity to access more than 122 services across government" (DSIT, 2026).
Proving who you are can be done three ways (GOV.UK, 2026): with the GOV.UK One Login app on a phone with a camera, which reads a UK photocard driving licence, a UK passport, a non-UK passport with a biometric chip, or a UK biometric residence permit or card; by answering security questions online about your financial history plus passport, licence or bank account details; or in person at a Post Office, which scans your photo ID and photographs you. The check is saved to your account, so you do not repeat it for the next service.
Directors and office managers will increasingly need a personal One Login of their own, protected with two-factor authentication — the same principle as our guide to passkeys.
GOV.UK Wallet — live, but with one document
The Wallet lives inside the One Login app and stores digital versions of government-issued documents. The Government Digital Service reported in January 2026 that the digital Veteran Card went live in October 2025 and that "more than 15,000 veterans have successfully added their card to their GOV.UK One Login app" (GDS, 2026). The same post says a private trial of the digital driving licence began in December 2025 with internal staff, with wider rollout promised "later this year".
At the time of writing we could find no government announcement that the digital driving licence has been released to the public. Treat the driving licence as planned, not live, until DVLA or GDS says otherwise. The Wallet is a container for documents, not the national digital ID itself.
The digital verification services register — the bit that already governs employers
The most consequential piece of digital identity law is already in force. Sections 32 to 44 of Part 2 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 commenced on 1 December 2025, creating a statutory register of digital verification services (DVS) run by the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (OfDIA, 2026). As of July 2026 the register lists 46 providers offering 64 certified services. Version 1.0 of the trust framework they are certified against was published on 9 June 2026 and takes effect on 1 September 2026, with a "UK CertifID" trust mark for services certified against it (OfDIA, 2026).
This matters to a 20-person firm because the companies that do digital right-to-work checks on your behalf are these registered providers, working to OfDIA's supplementary codes for right to work, right to rent and Disclosure and Barring Service checks (OfDIA, 2026). If a vendor offers "digital ID checks", the first question is whether they are on the register.
The national digital ID — announced, reversed, now consulted on
The Home Affairs Committee's May 2026 report sets out the sequence plainly. The government announced a digital ID scheme on 26 September 2025 that would be mandatory for right-to-work checks; that mandatory element was reversed in January 2026 after public opposition, including a parliamentary petition of nearly 3 million signatures (Home Affairs Committee, 2026). The committee called the announcement "rushed, poorly thought through"; public support fell from 53% in November 2024 to 31% by September 2025.
The consultation that followed ran from 10 March to 5 May 2026 and, as of late August, the government is still analysing responses; no formal response has been published (DSIT, 2026). The document proposes a digital ID containing "full name (as it appears in official documentation like a passport), date of birth, nationality, and a current, high-resolution biometric facial image", available to British and Irish citizens and foreign nationals with permission to be in the UK above a minimum age proposed as 16. It states: "There will be no legal obligation for people to have or present the digital ID." Access to public services will not depend on having one (DSIT, 2026).
What is not optional, under the proposal, is the way employers check. The government's stated ambition is that "digital right to work checks will be mandatory by the end of this Parliament for the purpose of obtaining a statutory excuse", with the accepted evidence being the digital ID, a British or Irish passport (or Irish passport card), or an eVisa (DSIT, 2026). That needs legislation; no firmer date than "the end of this Parliament" exists.
| Item | Status | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| GOV.UK One Login | Live | More than 122 government services connected; identity proved by app, security questions or Post Office |
| Digital Veteran Card in GOV.UK Wallet | Live | Launched October 2025; over 15,000 added by January 2026 |
| Digital driving licence in the Wallet | Planned | Private trial from December 2025; wider rollout promised "later this year"; no public release found |
| DVS register and trust framework | Live | In force 1 December 2025; 46 providers, 64 services; framework 1.0 effective 1 September 2026 |
| Digital right-to-work checks via a registered provider | Live (optional) | Employers may use a registered provider now; manual and share-code checks continue |
| Mandatory digital right-to-work checks | Proposed | Ambition for end of this Parliament; requires legislation |
| National digital ID (voluntary) | Proposed | Consultation closed 5 May 2026; response awaited; build and legislation to follow |
| Mandatory digital ID for everyone | Dropped | Reversed January 2026 |
Privacy — safeguards and criticisms
The consultation leans heavily on data minimisation: the ID would, where possible, share only that a person is "over-18" rather than a full date of birth, and would be built "without creating a single database of all government data about a person" (DSIT, 2026). The Home Affairs Committee welcomed those commitments while pointing to government's "poor track record" on data security and recommending Parliamentary safeguards against "function creep" (Home Affairs Committee, 2026).
The Information Commissioner, responding to the Data (Use and Access) Bill, described the verification scheme as "designed as an alternative to the physical identity route, increasing protections for people's privacy whilst delivering economic benefits", and said his focus was on "helping government get the data protection considerations right" (ICO, 2025).
Critics are not persuaded. Big Brother Watch, which campaigns against the scheme, responded to the March 2026 statement by saying "a national digital ID is a multi-billion pound scheme that no-one voted for" and that the government "could make accessing services easier without building an app that creates a comprehensive logbook of our lives" (Big Brother Watch, 2026). On cost, the Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated £1.8 billion over 2026/27 to 2028/29, a figure the government disputes without publishing its own (Home Affairs Committee, 2026).
What this means for you, and what to do
Households. Nothing is compulsory, and nobody can demand a digital ID from you today because it does not exist. Set up a One Login when a service asks, protect it with two-factor authentication, and keep a passport or driving licence in date — the identity check needs one. If you or a relative do not use a smartphone, the Post Office route exists now, and the consultation commits to "alternative access routes" for the proposed ID (DSIT, 2026). The Committee's finding that 5.2% of working-age adults in England and Wales, and 17.7% in Scotland, lack a valid passport shows why a fallback matters (Home Affairs Committee, 2026).
Small employers. Right-to-work law has not changed yet, but the direction is set. Today you may check an applicant online with a share code, by examining original documents, or through an identity service provider using Identity Document Validation Technology. British and Irish citizens cannot get a share code, so for them it is documents or a provider. Keep copies for the whole employment and two years after it ends; employing someone without a correct check exposes you to a civil penalty (Home Office, 2026). Steps now:
- Write down which of the three methods you actually use, and who does it.
- If you use a provider, confirm it is on the OfDIA register and certified for right-to-work checks.
- Store check evidence somewhere backed up and access-controlled, not in a manager's inbox — the 3-2-1 backup rule applies to HR files too.
- Watch for the consultation response and the legislation that follows; that, not a vendor's sales email, is the trigger to change process.
We set up the foundations this depends on — managed accounts, multi-factor authentication, secure document storage — for businesses and households across Richmond, Kingston and London. If you are unsure whether a "digital ID check" offer is genuine, ask us before you sign.
Sources
- Big Brother Watch (2026) Big Brother Watch response to digital ID statement by the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister. Press release, 10 March 2026. https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases/big-brother-watch-response-to-digital-id-statement-by-the-chief-secretary-to-the-prime-minister/ (accessed 25 August 2026).
- DSIT (2026) Making public services work for you with your digital identity. Consultation, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, 10 March 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/making-public-services-work-for-you-with-your-digital-identity/making-public-services-work-for-you-with-your-digital-identity (accessed 25 August 2026).
- GDS (2026) Making the government's first digital wallet a reality. Government Digital Service blog, 21 January 2026. https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2026/01/21/making-the-governments-first-digital-wallet-a-reality/ (accessed 25 August 2026).
- GOV.UK (2026) Using your GOV.UK One Login: proving your identity. https://www.gov.uk/using-your-gov-uk-one-login/proving-your-identity (accessed 25 August 2026).
- Home Affairs Committee (2026) Mandatory to manageable: the government's plans for digital ID. Eighth Report of Session 2024–26, House of Commons, 20 May 2026. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmhaff/986/report.html (accessed 25 August 2026).
- Home Office (2026) Checking a job applicant's right to work. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work (accessed 25 August 2026).
- ICO (2025) Information Commissioner's response to the Data (Use and Access) (DUA) Bill. Information Commissioner's Office, 6 February 2025. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/the-data-use-and-access-dua-bill/information-commissioner-s-response-to-the-data-use-and-access-bill/ (accessed 25 August 2026).
- OfDIA (2026) OfDIA 2026 annual report on the operation of Part 2 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. Office for Digital Identities and Attributes, 14 July 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/office-for-digital-identities-and-attributes-2026-annual-report/ofdia-2026-annual-report-on-the-operation-of-part-2-of-data-use-and-access-act-2025 (accessed 25 August 2026).