IRRV Alert - week ending 12th February 2021
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How to prove and verify someone's identity (11 February 2021)
Guidance
How to prove and verify someone's identity
Good Practice Guide (GPG) 45 helps you decide how to check someone's identity.
Published 6 January 2014
Last updated 11 February 2021 — see all updates
From:
Cabinet Office and Government Digital Service
Documents
How to prove and verify someone's identity
HTML
Identity profiles
HTML
How to prove and verify someone's identity
ODT, 51.4KB
This file is in an OpenDocument format
Identity profiles
ODT, 25.7KB
This file is in an OpenDocument format
Details
This guidance will help you decide how to check someone’s identity. Some existing identity checking services already follow this guidance.
This guidance was written by Government Digital Service (GDS) with help from organisations across the public and private sectors. Key contributors include:
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
- Home Office
- Ministry of Defence (MoD)
- National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)
- Barclays
- Digidentity
- Experian
- IDEMIA
- Post Office
This guidance aligns with these international standards and regulations:
- Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) Pan Canadian Trust Framework Model
- the EU electronic identification and trust services (eIDAS) regulation
- ISO/IEC 29115
- NIST 800-63
This guidance does not explain the practical ways you can check someone’s identity. You’ll need to decide what tools or processes you want to use based on what’s appropriate for your service. For example, you might decide to accept a passport as evidence of someone’s identity if you know:
- the users of your service are likely to have a passport
- staff in your organisation have equipment they need to check the document effectively
One of the ways you can follow this guidance to check someone’s identity is by using GOV.UK Verify in your service.
Published 6 January 2014
Last updated 11 February 2021 + show all updates