GovWire

This guidance will help you decide how to check someones 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 (pdf, 196 KB)
• 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 someones identity. Youll need to decide what tools or processes you want to use based on whats appropriate for your service. For example, you might decide to accept a passport as evidence of someones 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