After consulting with businesses and individuals over the past three years, the United Kingdom government has outlined new departments and initiatives to help UK citizens create new digital identities that would fill the role that their driver’s licenses and passports currently fill.
Although the proposed bills have a long way to go before they become law, the Nametag team is actively monitoring this situation and taking proactive steps to help you prove your digital identity worldwide. Recently, we rolled out a global identity document verification initiative that lets people from over 250 countries and territories leverage our “Sign in with ID” which lines up with the goals the UK is trying to achieve.
Understanding the UK’s Digital ID Framework
Under this framework, the new Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (ODIA) would certify organizations applying to handle personal data and use it for identity verification. For instance, if someone wanted to purchase alcohol, tobacco or some other age-restricted product, they could use a digital ID to confirm they’re old enough to.
However, there are a few roadblocks to setting this in motion. Lawmakers will need to establish a secure certification process to make sure that organizations are equipped to handle sensitive data in compliance with security and privacy standards, a legal gateway to let those organizations run verification checks that compare a person’s digital ID to government data, and ensure that these digital identities can function like physical IDs.
How Nametag Follows Guidelines Set by Data Experts
Although the UK government hopes that their initiatives will curb the exponential rise in digital fraud they’re seeing, data experts have recommended some measures to secure identity verification. At Nametag, we’ve responded by designing our identity verification products around those standards.
Our “Sign in with ID” solution is the next generation of account access and recovery, finally doing away with credentials and allowing users to utilize their actual identity to make the internet a safer, more secure and authentic experience.
Static digitized credentials aren’t enough - Right now, identity on the Internet is non-portable. Individual companies are collecting and storing our personal data, and that increases security and privacy risk for individuals and organizations alike.
Nametag is SOC 2 Type 1 certified, which means we can mitigate those risks and help you meet some of your organization’s compliance needs.
Allow people to only disclose the information you need - Cyber criminals can and will target businesses that digitize physical IDs. Scans and uploads force people to share all the information in a personal ID, from a birthdate to their address.
Nametag’s “Sign in with ID” solution helps users selectively disclose the information they need for a verification check. At the point of account access, recovery or when receiving customer support, “Sign in with ID” allows the company requesting data to only request pertinent information. As a customer, users can limit, revoke our outright deny which information they choose. As a company looking to anonymize or safeguard the identity of their users, Nametag can additionally deploy “Privacy Mask” which aids in verifying the users as authentic, but still protects their identity as needed.
Shrink your clients’ digital footprints - Your customers shouldn’t have to upload their data into a new service to manage their digital identity. Today, privacy and security experts support decentralizing digital identities to give users the ability to control how their information is shared with organizations.
That’s why Nametag doesn’t require users to sign up or download any new apps. We use your device’s native security features for authentication and add that extra layer of security to your digital identity. We’re building the infrastructure to help users verify their identity by pairing real-time selfies with government IDs while preserving their privacy and without forcing them to download any new apps.
While the UK government has several challenges to overcome before their planned initiatives can be introduced to parliamentary debate, we’re preparing to support the UK and global businesses as we continue exploring the safest and most privacy-centric ways to prove your digital identity around the globe.
If you’d like to see how Nametag can help your company streamline their identity and access management, you can contact us here.
