Doing things digitally used to be a novel thing
but now it’s what most of us expect.
It’s becoming easier and easier to 
do the things we need to do online.
Things like
paying our bills,
transferring money between bank accounts,
booking a holiday.
But to do these things, you need to be able to 
prove that you are who you say you are.
Even if you’re doing something online, you 
still often need to prove who you are offline
by sending documents away,
scanning and emailing copies
or going into an office yourself 
with an armful of papers.
We think that you should safely and
easily be able to prove your identity online.
This is called digital identity.
And in the UK we've developed 
a system that lets you do this
whilst protecting your privacy and 
keeping your information safe.
So how does it work?
Let’s say that you want to get a new mortgage.
Right now, to prove your identity, you might 
need to go into a bank or office in person.
As our standards are adopted, you 
should in future be able to do this online.
So from the mortgage provider’s website,
you would be directed to a secure platform 
to provide some information about yourself.
This might mean that you would choose to
show your passport, which is verified to be 
real by checking with the Passport Office,
or taking a video with your 
phone to confirm it’s really you.
The information is submitted securely and 
verified against an identity provider of your choice.
A yes or no signal is sent 
back to let the mortgage provider
know whether you've been verified or not.
The identity provider only shares what’s 
necessary for the service to work.
Further information is not transferred 
to the mortgage provider,
not stored in another database,
not shared further.
The UK’s digital identity standards have 
been designed to ensure that this process
keeps your information safe.
Our approach protects your privacy, 
gives you control of your data and,
as more and more organisations adopt it,
makes your life easier.
Look for the icon
to know that you’re safe and secure.
