You may have seen our blog from March 2021 about government plans for implementing digital identities.
Soon, the Disclosure and Barring Service will be providing a new way to carry out identity checks, offering digital ID checks as an alternative to manual ones.
In this article we’ll explain more about the upcoming changes and what they’ll mean for you.
What are digital identities?
A digital identity is a digital representation of who you are. Digital identities can be used in person or online, enabling you to prove who you are during transactions and interactions.
So, rather than showing a physical identity document – like a driving licence or passport – you can provide the same information digitally.
For example, you might use a digital identity when opening a bank account or renting a car – or indeed getting a DBS Check.
When using your digital identity, you would only need to share the information that is necessary for that particular service or transaction.
Using digital identities can have a number of benefits, including:
- Making transactions and services quicker and easier for users
- Saving organisations time and money
- Reducing the risk of fraud for both users and organisations
- Reducing the risk of mistakes related to manual data management
- Encouraging innovation by allowing organisations to develop new services
You can find out more about the government’s digital identity plans here.
What’s changing with DBS identity checks?
The DBS will be implementing digital identity checks for Basic, Standard and Enhanced DBS Checks, in addition to the manual system currently in place.
They are currently developing new guidelines around this process. There will be two sets of guidelines: one for DBS providers and one for identity service providers.
Identity service providers have been asked for feedback on the guidelines. The DBS intends to provide a list of organisations that are approved to verify IDs for DBS Checks.
When will the new guidelines be available?
The final guidelines are expected to be ready by the end of 2021. The certification process for identity providers is also expected to be ready at the same time.
It’s likely that DBS providers will start using digital identity checking services from Q2 2022.
What do the changes mean for you?
At uCheck, we’re excited to say that we’ll be integrating with a third-party digital identity provider. Our new digital identity checking service will be available to all our clients.
We believe this will result in a safer, more streamlined ID checking solution, making the process much quicker and easier for you and reducing overall turnaround times for DBS Checks.
However, for those who would prefer to continue using a manual DBS checking approach, rest assured that this service will still be provided.
As always, we’re here to chat things through if you have any questions – please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
