United Kingdom
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has urged social media and video-sharing platforms to strengthen their age assurance systems so that young children are prevented from accessing services not intended for them.
In an open letter, the regulator backed Ofcom’s call for platforms to enforce minimum age requirements and ensure algorithms do not expose children to harmful content. The ICO said self-declared ages are no longer sufficient and that platforms should adopt stronger, privacy-friendly age assurance technologies now available, including facial age estimation, digital ID and one-time photo matching.
The regulator has written directly to major platforms including TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X, asking them to demonstrate how their current systems meet these expectations.
Pakistan
Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority has said digital identity credentials issued through its PakID platform must be accepted wherever proof of identity is required.
NADRA said some offices and service providers were still insisting on physical identity cards or photocopies and refusing to accept the Digital ID or dematerialised CNIC, NICOP or POC. It said this practice is inconsistent with the legal framework, pointing to the NADRA Digital Identity Regulations 2025, which give digital credentials the same legal status, validity and evidentiary value as physical documents.
The authority said all public bodies, regulated entities and organisations requiring proof of identity are obliged to accept NADRA-issued digital credentials.
United Kingdom
GOV.UK One Login now gives more than 16.6 million people a single account to access more than 220 government services, according to a joint update from the Government Digital Service (GDS) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The two departments say they have introduced a new identity verification route using knowledge-based verification questions built from information already held by DWP. The option is intended to help people who cannot use the GOV.UK One Login app or who do not have photo ID available.
Officials say the early results are encouraging, with more people completing identity verification online, and that further work is under way to expand the range of questions available so more users can prove their identity digitally.
Spain
Madrid-based decentralised identity provider Gataca has expanded its platform with a new identity intelligence layer designed to analyse wallet-based identity interactions for real-time risk, behaviour and trust signals.
The company says that as wallet-based credentials become more widely used, simple cryptographic validity checks are no longer enough on their own. Its new system introduces dynamic trust scoring that can adapt to the level of risk in a particular interaction, enabling low-friction verification in some cases while triggering stronger safeguards in higher-risk scenarios.
Gataca also says the platform can generate behavioural and market insights from identity interactions, helping organisations tailor trust models to their own fraud patterns, regulatory needs and customer journeys.
United States
Proton Mail has partnered with Uncommon Creative Studio to launch Born Private, an email reservation programme intended to protect children’s digital identities from birth.
Families can reserve an encrypted email address for a new-born child, with the account remaining sealed for up to 15 years. Proton says the idea is to give children a private, ad-free and encrypted digital starting point before they begin interacting online.
Once activated, the account is intended to serve as a long-term digital identity anchor for uses such as school services, gaming and other online accounts.
Global
The OpenID Foundation has named four testing service providers for its new independent conformance test programme, which is scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2026.
The appointed providers are FIDO Alliance, Fime, Raidiam and TrustID Solutions. The new programme builds on the Foundation’s existing self-certification service and is intended to provide a conformance pathway that can meet regulatory and sovereignty requirements across different jurisdictions.
The Foundation says the move comes as digital identity systems shift from pilot projects to production deployments across dozens of jurisdictions, increasing the need for implementations to meet internationally recognised standards.
Europe
Ditto has launched a cryptographic digital identity platform aimed at helping regulated organisations verify and authenticate customers while reducing exposure to personal data.
The London-based company describes the platform as a customer identity and access management layer that spans onboarding, sign-in and ongoing account protection. It links the launch to tightening European digital identity rules, including eIDAS and the European Digital Identity Wallet.
Ditto says its model is designed for an environment in which consumers increasingly hold reusable credentials in digital wallets rather than repeatedly sharing personal information with service providers.
United Kingdom
Entrust and Veyco have partnered to support digital signing in UK property transactions by combining identity verification and qualified electronic signatures in a single workflow.
Nationwide is the first mortgage lender to use the integrated system for an electronically signed mortgage deed. The process runs through Veyco’s Know Your Customer (KYC) platform and combines identity checks aligned with ETSI standards and qualified electronic signatures issued through a qualified trust service provider.
The partnership reflects growing momentum behind electronic signing in property transactions following HM Land Registry’s acceptance of qualified electronic signatures for relevant documents.
Global
New research commissioned by Ping Identity suggests many organisations overestimate their digital identity security maturity, despite limited preparedness for AI-driven threats.
According to the IDC report, just nine percent of organisations are prepared to tackle AI-driven identity risks, even though more than half believe they are ahead of their peers in securing digital identities. The research also highlights a sharp maturity gap between leaders and laggards in continuous identity verification.
Organisations that verify identity-sensitive transactions more consistently were found to perform better across several business measures, including customer conversion, compliance readiness, fraud reduction and workforce onboarding speed.
