What Risks Does Digital ID Bring To The UK?

Britain plans to fold countless log ins into one smartphone wallet called One Login. Ministers say that a single sign in will speed up tax returns, benefit claims and licence renewals. Treasury staff also believe it will trim paperwork and postage costs and save money.

Computer Weekly, which has tracked Whitehall technology for years, predicts that the new scheme follows the failure of Verify, a project that cost hundreds of millions and left welfare claimants stranded during lockdown.

A surge in online transactions since the pandemic plus pressure to cut red tape explains the renewed drive, though those same factors make any error far more painful.

 

Where Are The Biggest Security Issues?

 

Verify fell apart after overloaded servers and weak identity checks. One Login carries bigger stakes: it already stores data for three million users and will soon hold driving licences inside a GOV.UK wallet.

Computer Weekly reports that NCSC and the Cabinet Office data overseer flagged flaws that could let attackers raise their access level and harvest documents. Officials refuse to say if engineers have sealed those holes, leaving speculation to fill the silence.

Juniper Research calculates that almost half of UK adults could adopt the wallet within four years. If vulnerabilities persist, crooks gain a rich target with every new user.

Thales questioned a thousand residents and found one in three keep scans of passports or licences on their phones. Weak habits mix with system flaws, creating a breeding ground for fraud. Insurance groups already report claims linked to identity theft rising every quarter, a trend they link to careless data storage.

 

 

How Could This Affect Businesses?

 

One Login began life as a gateway for public services only. Later decisions added a digital driving licence that landlords, bars and gambling apps may use for age checks. This switch turns the state wallet into a direct rival to commercial providers that spent years passing government tests. Company founders fear that years of coding and compliance spending could lose value overnight.

Juniper Research expects the official app to attract millions, with growth for small rivals stuck in single digits. Investors fear a monopoly funded with taxpayer money.

Legal adviser Richard Oliphant told MPs that capital will leave the sector if government takes the entire pie. At the Pay360 event, Jumio executive Reinhard Hochrieser called for common technical rules managed through independent oversight, not a platform run within Whitehall.

NatWest payment planner Lee McNabb recalled Open Banking, where banks carried the cost as external apps captured the benefit. Companies dread a repeat in digital identity.

Nordic nations offer a different model: rules set in law, wallets run through bank and telecom partnerships. Speakers in London said United Kingdom could follow that template instead of favouring a single public app.

 

What Must Happen Before Launch?

 

Two high stakes meetings will take place in May. The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes plans to hear from suppliers. Later, Peter Kyle, the secretary in charge, will hold a round table with technology firms.

Security fixes, access to driving licence data and a clear fee structure top the list for those talks. Without answers, investors may walk away and users may cling to unsafe work‑arounds such as phone photos of documents. Small software shops call the current uncertainty unbearable.

Citizens want faster services without gambling with personal data. One Login can still earn that trust if ministers prove the code is solid and the field stays open. A second collapse would deepen doubt and waste more tax money. The coming months will show if that lesson from history lands, for good or ill in the meantime.
 

Does One Login Respect Personal Privacy?

 
Data held inside the wallet will link tax details, driving records and welfare histories to one profile. Privacy groups warn that a single breach could release an entire life story in one go.

John Cullen from Thales argues that keeping credentials encrypted on each handset cuts that danger because hackers must break millions of phones, not one cloud store. He adds that users should be able to share only the date of birth line when a pub needs to check age, nothing more.

The Information Commissioner’s Office wants clear logs that show who asks for data, when and for what reason. Without such audit trails, citizens would struggle to challenge misuse.

Surveys already show many residents feel uneasy handing over paperwork; a wallet that leaks location or spending habits would deepen that fear. Clear rules on retention and deletion stand between convenience and constant tracking.