What we know about the new digital driving licence

Ministers have said a new digital wallet system will 'drag government into the 2020s', but campaigners have expressed concerns about privacy and data collection.

https://x.com/SciTechgovuk/status/1881710956092297326
A preview of the new Gov.uk digital wallet. (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Digital driving licences, stored inside a government smartphone wallet, are to be made available this year.

It's not yet clear what other digital versions of government-issued documents could be stored in the new gov.uk app, but the science and technology secretary Peter Kyle has said “nothing is off the table”.

“You will be able to prove and verify your age digitally using the digital driving licence. And this is going to be absolutely liberating,” he said at a launch event in Whitechapel.

"Along with CDs, the Walkman and flip phones, the overflowing drawer rammed with letters from the government and hours spent on hold to get a basic appointment will soon be consigned to history," Kyle added.

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"GOV.UK Wallet will mean that every letter or identity document you receive from the government could be issued to you virtually. Crucially, it also opens huge opportunities to make interacting with public services much easier by putting people in control of their own data."

However, not everyone is so enthusiastic about the incoming digital wallets, with some raising concerns over privacy and the app moving the UK one step closer to having a fully-fledged mandatory ID system.

The digital driving licence being rolled out by the government this year is a digital version of someone's physical licence stored on an app on their phone.

They will be among the first digital documents introduced to the GOV.UK Wallet, which will be launched later this year.

The app for government services will be launched by June and will include a digital wallet to store documents.

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This will start with a veteran card and then a pilot of driving licences by the end of the year.

Britons will be given the option to use a digital version of their driver’s licence from their phone to easily prove their age when buying age restricted items online and in person – as well as proving their right to drive.

The app will also allow users to access a range of government services all in one place when it is fully rolled out.

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It will also feature an AI-powered GOV.UK chat feature, giving users personalised answers to their questions based on government guidance.

Officials have emphasised that a digital licence would not be mandatory.

A government spokesperson said: “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.”

Physical documents will remain available and there are no plans to make the digital versions compulsory, Kyle said, while the BBC reported that it "is not thought physical identification will be replaced entirely".

Some campaigners are uneasy about what this process of digitisation could lead to in the not-too-distant future and think the government's assurances on physical IDs so far are not good enough.

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Civil liberties and privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said the new system "has the hallmarks of the nightmare database state envisaged with Blair’s failed ID card system, only in mobile, digital form".

Its director, Silkie Carlo, said: “This is a proposal for an all-encompassing digital ID system that will hold a huge amount of information on each of us from tax to health data, drawn from multiple government departments."

She warned that facial recognition data "makes this sprawling identity system incredibly sensitive, intrusive and a honeypot for hackers", and what while the government should be giving people digital options, "this approach risks actually narrowing our choices and control over our own data".

An official poll card for government elections and a UK photo driving licence as prove of identity.
The government has said physical documents will still be available, but it hasn't eased the concerns of privacy campaigners. (Alamy)

"That’s because, despite our campaign, the government is inexplicably refusing to legally protect the right to use non-digital ID, and hasn’t set out whether we can control how much of our sensitive information will be available via this wallet.

“Without such basic protections, this smacks of a mandatory ID system in all but name, disadvantaging the millions of people in this country who rely on physical documents and letters, and cannot or choose not to use digital identity systems.”

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for The AA, also expressed concerns that foreign countries may not accept a digital licence for people hiring cars abroad, the Times reports.

The new government app could be used for a range of services, including receiving benefits, paying taxes, applying for childcare, applying for a driving licence, or reporting a lost passport.

The ID functionality of the app could be used for anything from buying alcohol at a supermarket, boarding domestic flights or proving your right to vote, according to the Times.

Supermarkets could also potentially link the digital licence with self-checkout technology, meaning customers would be able to scan their phones to prove their age, rather than wait for a member of staff to check their ID, the newspaper reports.

DBS checks and marriage certificates are among the credentials the government hopes to have available inside the wallet by the end of 2027.

The science secretary said it was possible that it could be used for people to store and display their immigration status in future.