My heart sank last week when I noticed the hashtag #NHSDataGrab trending on twitter. Public anxiety about the use of their medical – or indeed any personal data - is entirely understandable. As Elizabeth Denham, the Information Commissioner said “It is clear that there remains considerable confusion regarding the scope and nature of the [data-sharing plans], among both healthcare practitioners and the general public . . . It is sensible for NHS Digital to take more time to engage with its stakeholders and consider the feedback it is receiving about its plans.”  The backlash has caused the NHS to delay their plans to pool the full medical histories of 55 million patients in England into a single database.

The value of such a large medical database could far outweigh the value of the other huge datasets we have become accustomed to – such as Google search or Google maps. We do instinctively appreciate the use of a comprehensive dataset, but the public are rightly sceptical about how our private medical data will be used if the process feels rushed or secretive.

The public need to understand the way the data will be used, and be reassured about any privacy and security concerns. It is the Government’s responsibility to build public trust when seeking to build data infrastructure. This need for consultation and a public awareness campaign about the use of our data is absolutely key to making the most of the opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution. I often make the comparison to the Warnock Commission which did so much for reassuring public opinion about test tube babies when that technology felt new and, potentially, frightening.

One of the technological innovations that could make a spectacular difference to our national fortunes both economic and social is a successful digital identity programme. I raised the issue when  the Financial Services Bill passed through parliament recently. I tabled several amendments to the bill, one was designed to push forward a distributed Digital ID. The amendment required that HM Treasury, within six months of the passage of the bill, publish the Government’s plans for the development and deployment of a distributed Digital ID for individuals and corporate entities in the financial services sector.

Along with this ambitious schedule, the proposals stated that a successful distributed Digital ID must be scalable, flexible, inclusive, capable of deployment and take-up across the entire U.K., and capable of adapting to change – not least in new technologies such as quantum computing. A final, but essential, element was the mandating of a public consultation. The Government did not accept my amendment and the bill passed into law in April.

The Government has been trying to build a digital identity system. The flagship Gov.UK Verify system was launched in 2013 with a goal of 25 million users by 2020 and every government department using the system. Nine years and £175 million  later the Verify project – with fewer than eight million users - has been abandoned due to “over elaborate expectations trajectory and cost.” It is worth noting that HMRC opted out of the Verify system in 2017, building their own Government Gateway system which now has 16 million users.

I am not alone in calling for an effective digital identity. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have noted that digital identity would be a great benefit to the greater adoption of Open Finance and the Kalifa fintech report published in February this year highlighted the need for a coalition on Digital ID to avoid misunderstanding and confusion about competing standards. I have also been doing some work with employers and recruiters concerned with the impact of a return to in person right to work checks after June 21st. Covid has meant these checks have been done digitally and after June 21st we will find ourselves in the extraordinary position that companies will require in person checks for UK nationals but not non-UK nationals.

This lack of parity may well lead to unintended consequences and the Better Hiring Institute advocates the development of Digital Hiring which would be achieved through digital identity, digital DBS checks, and digital right to work checks. Back to identity verification in the world of financial services. Existing Know Your Customer (KYC) processes are currently mainly paper based and physical but the process of digitisation is underway. Platforms such as Onfido and Jumio using AI to verify customers and block fraudsters.

We have the support, we have the use cases, we have the technology, but can the Government now make it work?

A new digital identity service is in development and will be mandated across departments. All public-facing central government services will have to migrate onto the new system with all legacy systems planned to be phased out. Government Digital Service (GDS) is leading the project in what the Government is describing as a 'discrete digital identity pilot project' which is underway. The Government has also published a draft digital identity trust framework.

Is it enough? Given the outstanding track record we have in the UK on rolling out Open Banking and Digital Payments, it is more than a little frustrating that we haven’t done better on digital identity. This next generation infrastructure is at the heart of so much progress, for example improving financial inclusion and wellness, and enabling economic growth. This has become particularly urgent as we start to emerge from the dreadful impact of the pandemic and seek to 'build back better' over the next decade. We have the technology now we have to create the innovative and collaborative environment required to deliver a single Digital ID solution that works across government and industry.