Yoti has notched another big win in the UK: the country’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has named the company, alongside the Post Office, as a Digital Identity Service Provider (DISP) – the first such distinction amid the United Kingdom’s ongoing digital transformation.
The designation pertains to government guidelines concerning the right to work, the right to rent, and criminal records checks in the country. Working together, Yoti and the Post Office will enable employers in the UK to check individuals’ right to work in the country online, through a digital identity app, or in-person at postal branches.
It was only March of this year when the DCMS announced that government authorities planned to introduce digital ID legislation at the earliest opportunity. Now, Yoti and the Post Office have been approved as DISPs through a DCMS guidance framework that is in its “alpha phase”, as UKAuthority reports, with a beta phase to follow in which new DISPs are expected to be certified this summer.
Employers and landlords are not yet required to use DISPs for background checks, but the practice is recommended by the British Home Office.
The news comes immediately after the announcement that Yoti’s digital identity app would be accepted as proof of age by four major movie theater chains belonging to the UK Cinema Association. Alternatively, the Post Office’s EasyID app, developed in collaboration with Yoti, can also be accepted for age verification.
Both apps are based on core Yoti technology that uses facial recognition to match an end user to an image of their official government-issued ID, thereby enabling reliable remote identity verification. After the initial onboarding process, it is possible to share discrete bits of information, such as date of birth, without revealing unnecessary personally identifiable information to authenticating parties.
Commenting on the DCMS accreditation, Post Office Identity Services Director Elinor Hull emphasized the utility of digital identity services in helping the business sector to overcome real-world challenges.
“At a time when the hospitality and retail sectors in particular are struggling to recruit and get staff onto the shop floor, having the ability to digitally check candidates’ right to work speeds up the recruitment process, is more secure and could enable them to start sooner than if the candidate has to travel and then have their documents photocopied and physically checked,” she said.
Source: UKAuthority
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