Digital Identity

The One Login programme, which will allow users to create a government account to access services online, or through an app that is being developed in partnership with Deloitte.

“Countries need a single citizen digital identity system, built around either a ‘unique identifier’ – such as the reference numbers lying at the core of many national ID systems – or a ‘golden record’: a ‘single source of truth’ held by a designated civil service body. And citizens must be able to log into a digital ID verification platform, securing access to a wide range of public services.” Until they develop these capabilities, governments are condemned to manage an ever-growing number of mismatching data sets, often while citizens accumulate separate sets of log-in details for every individual service

nine other digital identity systems being developed across the public sector – namely GDS’s own Identity and Attributes Exchange; NHS Login; the Home Office’s EU Settled Status scheme; DWP’s Confirm Your Identity; the Scottish government’s Digital Identity Scotland scheme; the second iteration of the Government Gateway; an identity verification system rumoured to be underway at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC); the Digital Business Identity scheme from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; and now GDS’s planned successor to Verify

Once ready, the system will replace an existing patchwork of almost 200 separate accounts and 44 different login methods currently in use across various departments and services.

“One Login [is] a new system that will provide one way for users to sign in, prove their identity and access central government services online,”

there are already over 100 places on the government website where users can log in – with little commonality between them.

there is no guarantee that the work on Gov.uk Accounts will lead to a full service, until future funding has been confirmed.

Work is already underway across the public sector on at least nine different digital identity or login systems.

GDS’s own £200m Gov.uk Verify service has had a troubled history, and is likely to be abandoned when its funding runs out in 2021. The most widely used identity system is HM Revenue & Customs’ Government Gateway, which is used by more than 11 million taxpayers to access and submit their tax details. The Department for Work and Pensions, which had previously been dependent on Verify, has also developed the Confirm Your Identity system for benefit claimants applying for Universal Credit. The NHS, Home Office, Department for Business and the Scottish government also have projects underway.

There are already lots of government accounts for specific services - we’ve recorded over a 100 places that a user could login already, and that trend will only continue.

We need to: create one simple, secure way for people to sign in to all government services (single sign-on) let users prove who they are to government once (digital identity)

Our overall vision is that: people will use the same username and password for every government service they use users can create a digital identity, to the level they need, which they reuse across government services every citizen who wants to access government services digitally will be able to use our service

What do we want the single sign-on service to offer? It should: allow a user to sign in and access government services give service teams confidence that it’s always the same user accessing the service (authentication)