GOV.UK One Login bank account identity verification option 2027, Digi Mart USA News (United Kingdom): The government has issued an update on an upcoming change to a system used by around 23 million Brits. The One Login system is used to access services such as the DWP for checking state pension and benefits and HMRC for checking tax records and National Insurance details.
The system can also be used to renew a DVLA driving licence, access childcare services and other things. It was introduced to give people one account to access government services online.
However, senior MPs have raised concerns that the scheme could be vulnerable to hackers, with one calling it “scandalously insecure.”
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which insists the system actually reduces fraud, issued the update after being asked about the adequacy of One Login for people who have difficulty confirming their identity. Speaking in response to a question from Devon MP Martin Wrigley, minister Stephanie Peacock said the government is committed to making One Login as accessible as possible while protecting users and the government from fraud.
Peacock said One Login offers multiple ways to prove identity, including through the app, online security questions or in person via the Post Office. She added that a new option launching next year will allow users to prove their identity by securely logging into their bank account.
People receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can already use information about their benefit to help prove their identity, and the government is working with the DWP to extend this to a wider range of benefits. Where users cannot or choose not to use One Login, government services are required to provide alternative routes.
The DWP announced in May that claimants can use the service to check a number of benefits, and that people can download a benefits letter to a device or request a printed letter by post. The government also announced in September that passkeys were being rolled out across One Login, allowing people to log in using a PIN, Face ID or fingerprint rather than a password.
It says passkey logins are up to eight times faster than signing in with a username, password and two-step verification code, and can help protect people from phishing and other cyber threats.
Senior Conservative MP David Davis has been a long-time critic of the scheme and has previously warned that One Login is “scandalously insecure.” Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate late last year, he described a single log-in as a “strategic weakness” and said the government’s handling of the system had been a “disaster.” Davis, a prominent campaigner for civil liberties, argued that the system would expose the population’s data to malevolent actors and said it would be worse than the Horizon scandal, in which postmasters were wrongly prosecuted due to IT errors.
The government has rejected this analysis. It says the system offers a simple, one-stop shop to access government services and follows the highest security standards used across government and the private sector.
A spokesperson said the system is fully compliant with UK data protection and privacy laws and undergoes regular security reviews and testing, including by independent third parties.
In the same debate, Iqbal Mohamed MP said the country had been “crying out for joined-up government for decades,” but warned that many constituents oppose the scheme because they see a breach of civil liberties without corresponding benefits.
Jonathon Ellison, NCSC Director for National Resilience, said in September that the introduction of passkeys would give users a faster, simpler and more secure way to sign in to public-facing government services. He encouraged users to set up a passkey for GOV.UK One Login wherever passkeys are available across digital services.
