Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he plans to take to help tackle public concerns on (a) surveillance and (b) the misuse of personal data as digital identity and service integration increases.
The Government plans to introduce digital versions of existing government-issued documents through the GOV.UK Wallet, a secure digital service for storing government-issued credentials on users’ smartphones. By design, Government will not be keeping a record of where credentials are used.
GOV.UK One Login allows citizens to safely and securely prove their identity to access government services online. Privacy is at the core of its design; it is compliant with UK data protection and privacy laws.
In addition, measures on digital verification services (‘DVS’) in the Data (Use and Access) Act create a legislative structure of standards (the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework), governance and oversight for DVS that wish to appear on a government register, so that people will know what a good digital identity looks like.
The trust framework includes rules on privacy, data protection, and fraud management, building on existing industry standards and legislation where appropriate, to ensure user needs are put first.