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Digital Driving Licence to be introduced by the Government

The UK government has recently announced its plans to launch a new Gov.UK wallet and app for your phone so that you can have quick access to a new digital driver’s licence (“DDL”) and may be the gateway to having veteran cards, DBS checks, a new digital passport and other digital government issued documents all on the app by 2027.

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Published 6 February 2025

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  • Digital

The UK government has recently announced its plans to launch a new Gov.UK wallet and app for your phone so that you can have quick access to a new digital driver’s licence (“DDL”) and may be the gateway to having veteran cards, DBS checks, a new digital passport and other digital government issued documents all on the app by 2027.

The DDL could be used to buy age-related products, for citizens to present their identity to a police officer without the physical card handy, or at supermarket self-checkouts,  where a customer could verify their own age without waiting for staff. The UK are somewhat late to the party, as within the EU, every member state is required to introduce at least one form of digital ID by 2026, and virtual licences are already in use in Australia, Denmark, and Norway.

However, the aim goes further than just the DDL. It will be rolled out alongside new ways for citizens to interact with the government digitally – and is projected to be saving £45 billion in efficiency, by allowing citizens through the app to:

  • Report a lost passport;
  • Provide people with instant and timely alerts, such as updates on the status of their application, or a new policy or service that they need to know about. This is intended to significantly reduce the 3,000,000 text messages sent by the government every day which incurs extensive costs to the nation’s public sector; and
  • Find answers to complex and niche questions through the government’s intended generative AI chatbot, GOV.UK Chat. This was piloted at the end of 2024 with 10,000 users. The chatbot responded to near 24,000 questions and provided relevant answers in 90% of cases. It is claimed to have expeditiously detected and prevented 100% of the attempts that users took to break or manipulate the bot.

The government stresses that traditional physical documents will still be available, and the DDL is just an option for citizens. It is in no way mandatory.

Unsurprisingly, the government’s proposals have not been universally welcomed. The head of Big Brother Watch has previously said the move to a DDL “would be one of the biggest assaults on privacy ever seen in the UK”. Security fears have been triggered by the proposal to simplify access to such important documents. Storing sensitive information on a mobile device increases the risks of unauthorised access and hacking. Questions are being asked how the government will be able to ensure and manage the risk to the security of individuals’ data There will inevitably be large amounts of personal information in one place which can make it a target for fraudsters and those engaged in identity theft. If a phone is lost or stolen, the risk is far greater as the information it enables access to is of far greater value. Furthermore, while there are significant advantages in being able to access such a wide range of vital data on a single device, the practical and technological issues that arise if someone’s phone battery dies, the app has malfunctions or it requires service to access the key documents are difficult to circumvent. Citizens relying solely on the DDL or wider app would potentially be unable to prove their identity.

To address some of the data security concerns, the app will have inbuilt facial recognition in order to protect users and will contain all the usual safeguards that you would see on a normal banking app, such as 2 factor authentication or further steps to verify identity.

Some citizens are also concerned about the potential for the enhanced government overreach and surveillance on their lives. It is not clear at present how the data gathered from questions asked to the chatbot (for example) will be used by the government, or what other uses might be made of data inputs from users. As always it is a question of trying to strike the right balance between easier access and useabilty with security and protection of individual rights. Further details of the scheme are eagerly awaited.

 

 

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Shorter Reads

Digital Driving Licence to be introduced by the Government

The UK government has recently announced its plans to launch a new Gov.UK wallet and app for your phone so that you can have quick access to a new digital driver’s licence (“DDL”) and may be the gateway to having veteran cards, DBS checks, a new digital passport and other digital government issued documents all on the app by 2027.

Published 6 February 2025

Associated sectors / services

  • Data Protection
  • Intellectual property
  • Digital

Authors

The UK government has recently announced its plans to launch a new Gov.UK wallet and app for your phone so that you can have quick access to a new digital driver’s licence (“DDL”) and may be the gateway to having veteran cards, DBS checks, a new digital passport and other digital government issued documents all on the app by 2027.

The DDL could be used to buy age-related products, for citizens to present their identity to a police officer without the physical card handy, or at supermarket self-checkouts,  where a customer could verify their own age without waiting for staff. The UK are somewhat late to the party, as within the EU, every member state is required to introduce at least one form of digital ID by 2026, and virtual licences are already in use in Australia, Denmark, and Norway.

However, the aim goes further than just the DDL. It will be rolled out alongside new ways for citizens to interact with the government digitally – and is projected to be saving £45 billion in efficiency, by allowing citizens through the app to:

  • Report a lost passport;
  • Provide people with instant and timely alerts, such as updates on the status of their application, or a new policy or service that they need to know about. This is intended to significantly reduce the 3,000,000 text messages sent by the government every day which incurs extensive costs to the nation’s public sector; and
  • Find answers to complex and niche questions through the government’s intended generative AI chatbot, GOV.UK Chat. This was piloted at the end of 2024 with 10,000 users. The chatbot responded to near 24,000 questions and provided relevant answers in 90% of cases. It is claimed to have expeditiously detected and prevented 100% of the attempts that users took to break or manipulate the bot.

The government stresses that traditional physical documents will still be available, and the DDL is just an option for citizens. It is in no way mandatory.

Unsurprisingly, the government’s proposals have not been universally welcomed. The head of Big Brother Watch has previously said the move to a DDL “would be one of the biggest assaults on privacy ever seen in the UK”. Security fears have been triggered by the proposal to simplify access to such important documents. Storing sensitive information on a mobile device increases the risks of unauthorised access and hacking. Questions are being asked how the government will be able to ensure and manage the risk to the security of individuals’ data There will inevitably be large amounts of personal information in one place which can make it a target for fraudsters and those engaged in identity theft. If a phone is lost or stolen, the risk is far greater as the information it enables access to is of far greater value. Furthermore, while there are significant advantages in being able to access such a wide range of vital data on a single device, the practical and technological issues that arise if someone’s phone battery dies, the app has malfunctions or it requires service to access the key documents are difficult to circumvent. Citizens relying solely on the DDL or wider app would potentially be unable to prove their identity.

To address some of the data security concerns, the app will have inbuilt facial recognition in order to protect users and will contain all the usual safeguards that you would see on a normal banking app, such as 2 factor authentication or further steps to verify identity.

Some citizens are also concerned about the potential for the enhanced government overreach and surveillance on their lives. It is not clear at present how the data gathered from questions asked to the chatbot (for example) will be used by the government, or what other uses might be made of data inputs from users. As always it is a question of trying to strike the right balance between easier access and useabilty with security and protection of individual rights. Further details of the scheme are eagerly awaited.

 

 

Associated sectors / services

  • Data Protection
  • Intellectual property
  • Digital

Authors

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