The Government is planning to launch digital driving licences this year.
Digital licences are already used in Australia, Denmark, Iceland and Norway. As part of a broader move towards digital identification, member states in the EU will also have to introduce at least one form of digital ID by 2026.
The digital licence will be accessible through a virtual wallet in the Government app and will be secured like a bank app, using biometrics, multi-factor authentication, and other security measures. In the future, other services and identification documents, such as tax payments, benefit claims, and national insurance numbers, may also be integrated into the app.
Speaking on the digitisation of the document, a spokesperson explained: “This Government is committed to using technology to make people's lives easier and transform public services. Technology now makes it possible for digital identities to be more secure than physical ones, but we remain clear that they will not be made mandatory.”
Previously, former Prime Minister Tony Blair championed the introduction of compulsory digital ID cards, which campaign group Big Brother Watch condemned as “[…]one of the biggest assaults on privacy ever seen in the UK.” The digital driving license, however, does not appear to carry the same level of concern. Digital driving licences will not be mandatory, and physical licences will still be issued.
A digital driving license will be an acceptable form of ID for buying alcohol and voting. With 34 million licenced drivers in England, this initiative reflects the Government’s broader aim to ‘transform public services.’
