The digital ID consultation asks Britain to imagine public services that work faster online. The country has responded with its first urgent question: does this future remember a password from 2018?
The Government wants views on who should qualify for a digital ID, what information it should contain and which public services it could improve. It also wants to know how everyone can be included, presumably including people whose phone regards the latest update as a personal insult.
The proposal is designed to end the familiar scramble for proof of address. Citizens currently retrieve a utility bill or bank statement from a drawer containing cables, expired receipts and one coupon preserved through several governments. The new system may finally unite the state with the drawer, although neither is expected to locate the charging cable.
The accompanying prototype shows how government by app could join departments together. At present, citizens perform that join up work themselves. They carry the same name, date of birth and increasingly suspicious expression between offices, acting as unpaid human USB sticks for a public sector still searching for the correct port.
The Government says the digital ID will be available to people who want it, while existing routes will remain for those who prefer them. This is reassuring. Britain can choose between a paper form, a telephone queue or an app that asks it to prove it is not a robot before transferring it to a human who asks the same question.
Anyone starting a new job is expected to be able to use digital proof of identity for right to work checks by the end of the Parliament. Passports and eVisas will also be available for digital checks. Britain may soon prove it exists while a phone asks whether it has recently crossed at a junction.
The consultation will run for eight weeks, with a People’s Panel discussing the proposals in greater depth. One member can explain accessibility. Another can explain trust. A third can bring a paper copy in case the internet develops a strong opinion about security.
The prototype is not the final design, which protects the public from becoming emotionally attached to a button before it is moved under “More”. Citizens can submit their views before the system acquires a helpline, a queue and a frequently asked question about why the frequently asked questions have disappeared.
At last, Britain may access public services without carrying a bank statement across town. It will simply need a compatible device, a remembered password, a working signal and the calm confidence of someone who has never been locked out of their own account. The future is finally here, and it has asked us to accept cookies before entering.
Source: GOV.UK.
