PRESS RELEASE : Cabinet Office launches consultation on departmental data sharing [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 4 January 2023.

• The consultation seeks views on an amendment to existing legislation to make it easier for citizens to prove and reuse their identity when accessing online government services
• The public consultation will run for eight weeks, from 4 January 2023
• Cabinet Office invites the public to review and respond to the consultation

The consultation, which will run for 8 weeks, focuses on amending existing legislation to make it easier for citizens to prove their identity by supporting data-sharing and identity reuse across government. It will do this by strengthening the legal basis for public sector data-sharing for identity verification purposes.

As part of the GOV.UK One Login programme, the Government Digital Service (GDS), part of the Cabinet Office, is collaborating with departments to build a single sign-on and identity checking solution for all public services, called GOV.UK One Login. It will replace more than 190 existing sign in routes and 44 separate accounts. By using GOV.UK One Login, citizens will be able to prove their identity online and then reuse it to access all government services online via a single account.

Inclusion is at the heart of this legislative change. The legislation will mean citizens will be able to use a variety of government-held datasets to verify their identity online, rather than having to rely on traditional identity documents, which many citizens do not have access to.

To help realise this ambition, the Cabinet Office is proposing a new regulation under the Digital Economy Act 2017 to strengthen the ability for departments to share necessary information to support identity verification and reuse.

This update will mean users no longer have to repeatedly share the same details when interacting with public services on GOV.UK. Additionally, it will save taxpayers’ money by preventing duplicate identity checks being carried out across government, supporting efficient service delivery through joined-up working and enabling more users to access online services.

This activity supports the government’s mission to deliver better outcomes for citizens by building one fast, simple, secure way for users to sign in to services and prove their identity through GOV.UK One Login, as part of government’s Transforming for a Digital Future roadmap.