A new report has found that the UK public strongly supports government plans to create the UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF), with 87% stating it was a good idea and 72% supporting verified digital IDs in order to improve safety and streamline the process.

What is the DIATF?

The DIATF will be a digital identity trust framework that can be used as an alternative to physical identification documents such as passports or bank statements.

As well as making life easier for the public, it will also provide a robust accreditation and certification process for organisations, allowing them to prove their adherence to the rules of the framework through a recognised government trustmark.

In short, it will considerably reduce the often extensive and numerous requirements to prove your identity in a digital capacity, for example, when buying a house, while also providing the consumer with peace of mind when it comes to the use of their sensitive information.

It certainly seems as though such measures are not before time. A survey of the UK public commissioned by Credas found that 84% of us worry about our safety when providing sensitive and personal information online.

What’s more, almost a third (32%) say they’ve fallen foul of some form of online fraud, and just 34% of us are aware how many third party companies hold information about us.

While the implementation of GDPR laws aimed to improve data privacy and protect consumers, just 7% of the UK public say they trust that third party companies are compliant with respect to GDPR rules and regulations.

At the same time, 80% also find it time consuming having to provide personal data to multiple third parties when it comes to their digital activity.

No surprise then, that 87% think a government framework to help regulate this area of online life is a good idea, with 72% also backing the plans to have verified digital IDs in order to improve safety and streamline the process.

“In the modern world, so much is done in a digital capacity and while it has reduced the time, effort and requirements of many tasks, it doesn’t come without its pitfalls,” says Tim Barnett, CEO of Credas Technologies.

“Being able to verify our identity is one area that has become vitally important for both consumer and service provider alike.

For example, when we buy or sell a property, we will be required to verify our identity multiple times by a range of different stakeholders, whether it be the estate agent, solicitor and so on.

For these professional bodies it helps safeguard against criminal activity, which in the vast majority of cases starts with identity fraud.

However, it can be a laborious, time consuming process for those providing this information, as well as those still manually verifying it.

The government’s DIATF framework will modernise this process no end, providing verified digital IDs that both the consumer and service provider can utilise quickly and efficiently.

Not only will it help streamline processes such as buying or selling a home, but the consumer can also rest assured that they aren’t opening themselves up to any level of threat when it comes to the provision of their personal information.”