Digital Identity: Global Roundup

United Kingdom

The UK’s public sector digital ID system will not be completed this year as previously expected, with the deadline for implementation across all central government services pushed back three years to 2028.

The government is planning additional investments in GOV.UK One Login, which Public Technology reports could add hundreds of millions of pounds in cost to the single sign on (SSO) platform for government services.

A government letter seen by the publication confirms that Government Digital Service (GDS) Director of Digital Identity Natalie Jones remains in charge of the programme, and indicates that it will work across the whole central government by March 31, 2028.

Previous cost estimates for One Login pegged the price tag at around £329 million (roughly US445 million), up from an original estimate of £305 million ($413 million). Now, another £115 million ($156 million) has been allocated to One Login’s development for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The budget for the two remaining years of the plan is yet to be determined.

A representative of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which oversees the GDS, says One Login is up to 7.8 million users and 80 live services, with 100 more currently in testing. The official also denied that the timeline for delivery had been pushed back.

“The service originally scoped to onboard 145 services by 2025 and now, because of its success, it will be expanded to bring a further 160 services onto the platform over the following three years to ensure we can capture the full range of benefits and savings for taxpayers,” the spokesperson told Public Technology.

United Kingdom

Traffic from British users to some of the world’s most popular adult websites has almost halved since new age verification rules came into force in the UK.

Media regulator Ofcom on July 25 began enforcing the new requirements for adult sites to check the age of all UK users under the Online Safety Act, one of the world’s toughest new regimes aimed at protecting children on the internet.

Users have, among other options, been asked to upload identity documents, enter credit card details or scan their faces with a camera to prove they are over 18.

Pornhub, the UK’s most-visited adult site, experienced a 47 percent drop in traffic between July 24, the day before the rules came into force, and August 8, according to data from Similarweb, a web analytics and digital market intelligence provider.

The introduction of the UK’s age verification scheme coincided with a huge rise in British usage of virtual private networks, services which disguise a user’s online location.

The Philippines

The Philippine government has officially launched the new digital National Senior Citizen ID (NCSID). It will be integrated into the platform eGovPH app, and expected to benefit some 12 million elderly in the country.

For senior citizens who are already registered with the national ID system (PhilSys), the digital version of the senior citizen ID will appear automatically upon reaching age 60, eliminating redundant paperwork and the need to physically visit multiple offices, said a government spokesperson.

Czech Republic

Signicat has expanded its eID Hub with the integration of the Czech Bank iD.

Bank iD is a secure, bank-issued e-identification system used by more than 4.6 million people in the Czech Republic. Known for its banking-grade authentication, it has facilitated over 54 million transactions to date. It enables businesses to remotely verify the identities of Czech customers within seconds, with full compliance with Czech Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.

Businesses with Czech operations or those expanding into the region can now remotely onboard customers, employees, or students in seconds.

Additionally, companies trading with Czech entities – including those from Germany, Austria, France, and Poland, which are the nation’s key trading partners – will get simplified access to the Czech market by identifying the Czech trading counterpart.

United Kingdom

The UK’s digital identity project may be moving towards bipartisan support. The Conservative Party is carefully considering the introduction of compulsory digital IDs, according to Shadow Home Secretary and Tory MP Chris Philp, as per Biometric Update.

“I think any government of this country has to be prepared to do whatever it takes to protect our borders from illegal migration,” Philp told the BBC in an interview. “I think it is certainly something we should be considering very carefully.”

His statements followed Kemi Badenoch’s June comments, in which the Conservative leader indicated she would consider introducing identity cards to tackle illegal migration, according to The Telegraph.

The Labour government is currently considering issuing a mandatory verifiable digital identity credential to every adult in the country called the BritCard. Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reportedly ordered a “comprehensive and expansive look” at the role technology can play in government, including digital ID.

United Kingdom

However, consumers in the UK are among the least trusting of digital ID solutions in the world, according to new research.

A new report studying perceptions of digital identification and biometric security across various countries from Checkout.com has found people in Britain are significantly less comfortable with the technology compared with other regions.

While consumers in nations including Brazil, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates were generally in favour of digital ID, only 32 percent of Britons said they trusted the practice.

According to Checkout.com, consumers in the UK expressed particular concerns over the use of facial recognition in digital ID, coinciding with the Home Office’s rollout of new facial recognition vans for law enforcement.

Consumers in France and Germany were found to have similar concerns with the UK, all placing significant value on privacy and data protection.

United States

WidePoint Corporation has secured a six-year contract with the U.S. Department of Education to provide Personal Identity Verification-Interoperable (PIV-I) credentialing services. The contract period extends from August 1, 2025, through July 31, 2031, building upon recent federal initiatives to strengthen digital identity security across government agencies.

The agreement requires WidePoint to implement PIV-I credentials that will enable secure logical network access authentication for the Department’s systems. These credentials feature digital signing capabilities, email encryption, and Smart-Card physical access functionalities, following the NIST’s updated Digital Identity Guidelines for federal agencies. The implementation will strengthen the Department of Education’s cybersecurity infrastructure through robust identity and access management, particularly important as government IT departments face increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, reports Mobile ID World

Malaysia

Malaysia has unveiled its 13th Malaysian Plan (13MP) last week, focusing on its latest economic development framework. One of the key pillars is MyDigital ID, a single sign-on digital identity platform first launched in 2023. Under 13MP, the country aims to provide at least 95% of all government services digitally by 2030.

Nik Hisham, who heads MyDigital ID, revealed that the system has been integrated into 45 online platforms across the public and private sectors.

Europe

IDnow has announced that several of its flagship products had achieved ETSI 119 461 v2.1.1 certification. Developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), ETSI 119 461 v2.1.1 was selected by the European Commission as the standard for AML-compliant identity verification for qualified trust services, and the upcoming Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR).

Obtaining certification in ETSI 119 461 v2.1.1 establishes IDnow as one of the first providers in Europe to fulfill the biometric and security standards necessary for compliant identity verification in line with evolving European regulations, such as eIDAS 2.0 and AMLD6.

Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo has signed a deal with Singaporean firm Trident Digital Tech to roll out a new digital identity solution powered by blockchain technology.

Under the partnership, Trident will deploy a suite of new identity solutions, starting with DRCPass. This system will complement and gradually replace the physical IDs, transitioning the country into the digital era.

United Kingdom

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded Leeds-based consultancy Hippo Digital a short-term contract to review and recommend improvements to its digital identity and verification systems for officials with Secret-level security clearance. The two-month engagement began in early July.

The project focuses on assessing identity validation, entitlement attestation, and identity lifecycle processes – covering creation, maintenance, and retirement of user credentials – for around 20,000 active Secret-level users, including personnel stationed overseas. The Secret classification sits between Top Secret and Official in the UK government’s three-tier system, and requires enhanced secure networks and infrastructure due to the sensitivity of information handled.

According to official documentation, Hippo Digital will conduct a detailed review of the current systems and define technical solution options to improve security and efficiency. While the initial focus is on Secret-level users, the MoD requires that any proposed approach be scalable to the larger Official-level community, which could encompass up to 250,000 personnel and process around 1,000 identity changes per week, reports Public Technology.