Mydex CIC CEO David Alexander explains the opportunity of GOV.UK Verify in BBC Radio 4 interview
David Alexander, Mydex CIC CEO, was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 programme ‘World at One’ (starts at 35.25 and ends at 41.42) today. He spoke to journalist Chris Vallance about a new approach to online identity and Mydex CIC’s role as one of the five current identity assurance providers for the UK Government’s GOV.UK Verify programme.
GOV.UK Verifiy is an essential part of the government’s digital transformation programme which is making it possible for more government services to be ‘digital by default’ and improve the citizen’s experience. To do this it’s necessary to enable people to prove their identity entirely online.
In the piece David explains the current challenges of a shift to online-only provision of government services — how to verify that someone is who they say they are without having to be physically present or provide physical evidence for someone to examine which can be both costly and frustrating.
He said, “You have to turn up with umpteen documents, either issued by the government or another organisation like your bank, and submit them to a trained individual to inspect them, to verify that they’re real and that the person they’re looking at relates to them.”
David and Janet Huges, Head of Policy and Engagement for the GOV.UK Verify Programme, talk about how GOV.UK Verify works to solve this problem,
“When you go to apply for a service online with the government, you get rooted to an organisation like Mydex, we ask you a series of questions and then can check them. Once we’ve been able to check them, we go back to the government and say ‘Chris is Chris’.” David continues that once you’ve gone through this process, you’ve got a single identity credential (essentially a username and password) backed up by the assurance work undertaken by the identity provider, so that you can securely and privately access government services online in a consistent manner.
GOV.UK Verify is creating a new approach to identity assurance, in Mydex CIC’s case this is based on an individual’s control over their own personal data, by using a “Personal” Data Store in which they collect proof about their identity. They get this proof for the very organisations who supply them with services across their life e.g. Housing Association, Local Authority, phone company and bank.
David concludes the interview by highlighting the privacy aspect of the approach. GOV.UK Verify does not allow the tracking of individuals from one government service provider to another. “You can go to DWP and apply for Universal Credit, you could also go to HMRC; neither of them can compare notes and can say ‘the same person has logged into both of our services’.”
Mydex CIC believes that identity assurance is just the beginning of a journey that will end with individuals not just in control of their digital identities but also a range of key data about their lives, critically, verified data that is the basis for trusted transactions and online relationships throughout their lives. A good example would be proving the right to specific low-cost energy tariffs for people on qualifying benefits or entitlement to a parking permit if you are a blue badge holder.
There are currently five providers contracted to deliver identity assurance services including Digidentity, Experian, Mydex CIC, Post Office and Verizon.
Identity providers have to be certified as meeting government and industry-agreed protocols and standards. Mydex CIC is currently progressing through the certification and approvals process to go live and will join the public beta in due course. It is already ISO27001 company wide certified and the first ever certified Fair Data enabler.
You can listen to the programme here (section commences 35.25).
If you would like to get in touch with Mydex CIC about our role as an identity provider for GOV.UK Verify or a Community Interest Company serving individuals and communities in the UK please contact David Alexander (david@mydex.org).
