Identity Assurance in the UK: technical implementation and legal implications under the eIDAS Regulation

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1561/106.00000010

Abstract

Gov.UK Verify, the new Electronic Identity Management

(eIDM) system of the UK Government, has been promoted

as a state-of-the-art privacy-preserving system, tailored to

meet the requirements of UK citizens and is the first eIDM

in which the government delegates the provision of identity

to competing third parties. According to the recently

enacted EU eIDAS Regulation, Member States can allow

their citizens to transact with foreign services by notifying

their national eID scheme. Once a scheme is notified, all

other Member States are obligated to incorporate it into

their electronic identication procedures. This article examines

Gov.UK Verify's compliance with the requirements set

forth by the Regulation and the impact on privacy and data

protection. It then explores potential interoperability issues

with other national eID schemes, using the German nPA,

an eIDM based on national identity cards, as a reference

point. It concludes with a general overview of legal equivalence

of third country legal frameworks compared with that

of eIDAS. The article contributes to relevant literature of

privacy-preserving eID management by offering policy and

technical recommendations for compliance with the new Regulation

and an evaluation of interoperability under eIDAS

between systems of different architecture. It is also, to our

knowledge, the first exploration of the future of eID management

in the UK after a potential exit from the European

Union.

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2017-10-16

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