Tech-for-good startup Interrobang has been commissioned by the Scottish Government’s CivTech programme to build and test a new service to help digitally and financially excluded people across Scotland prove who they are.
There are 11 million people in the UK who lack passports and driving licences. Around a million of those are in Scotland. Without identity documents, people struggle to access vital services like banking, healthcare, housing and government help.
VouchSafe was unveiled at a CivTech launch event in Edinburgh attended by Richard Lochhead, Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade. It relies on proving trusted relationships, while Interrobang said most other commercial products on the market depend on scanning paper documents.
Vouching is not a new idea: it’s an outgrowth of the long-established practice of countersigning passport applications, updated for the internet era.
VouchSafe will be compliant with GPG45 in the UK, the rules that govern how to legally prove identity.
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“We’re making a key to unlock the essential services that people without basic ID often desperately need,” said Interrobang co-founder Chloe Coleman, who leads research on VouchSafe.
“Although Scotland is at the forefront of helping people prove who they are, it’s still a difficult process for many, and it can be prohibitively expensive. It costs an adult more than £80 to apply for a new passport in the UK.”
The service will work with ScotAccount, the flagship identity service used by an increasing number of Scottish public services.
Interrobang is looking for partners in the public and charity sectors to hone the service and make it as helpful as possible.
Founded in November 2022, the company is a tech-for-good startup active in the public and charity sectors, working it said, at the intersection of digital identity and inclusion.
