UK to Allow Digital Verification Services for Alcohol Age Checks

The UK is set to let people prove they are old enough to buy alcohol using a digital identity check rather than a physical document, after the Home Office laid regulations allowing licensed premises in England and Wales to accept age checks from registered digital verification service providers.

Under the change, customers at pubs, clubs, restaurants, and shops would be able to confirm their age through a registered digital verification service, known as a DVS provider, instead of always carrying a passport or driving licence. The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes, which announced the move, said current rules under the Licensing Act 2003 require proof of age to carry a physical security feature such as a hologram or ultraviolet mark, which effectively rules out digital identity. The new legislation removes that barrier and sets out how digital age checks can be used as an additional option.

To rely on digital checks, licensed premises would need an agreement with a registered DVS provider. The check must confirm identity to a medium level of confidence as defined in the UK’s DVS trust framework, and the provider must be able to confirm both that the customer meets the age threshold and that the identity belongs to the person presenting it. That confirmation has to happen through secure technological means, rather than a member of staff simply looking at a digital proof of age on a screen.

The government framed the change as adding choice rather than replacing physical ID: premises will not be required to accept digital checks, and customers will not be required to use them. Officials said the legislation still needs to complete its passage through Parliament, after which the Home Office will publish an implementation timetable and updated statutory guidance.

The measure gives certified digital identity providers a mainstream, in-person use case, extending a system built out when the UK government first consulted on digital ID and age verification for alcohol sales, and as UK Finance and major banks advanced their own digital verification service under the same framework.

Sources: GOV.UK

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By Ali Nassar-Smith