Verify

Be sure your users are who they say they are

GOV.UK Verify is a trusted, secure way to prove identity online. Designed to prevent identity fraud and protect users’ privacy, it’s a safe way to make sure you’re giving the right people access to your service.

Find out how to connect to GOV.UK Verify
Illustration of GOV.UK Verify passing secure data between a user and a government service

How GOV.UK Verify can help services

As services move online to make things simpler and faster for users, they can face an increased risk of identity fraud. Using GOV.UK Verify to prove identity online can:

  • help protect services and users from identity fraud
  • replace face-to-face identity checks
  • reduce the need for services and users to send documents in the post, saving time and money
  • replace physical signatures on legal documents

Find out if GOV.UK Verify is right for your service.

How GOV.UK Verify works

GOV.UK Verify works with different organisations, known as identity providers (or certified companies), to prove users’ identities.

When signing into your service for the first time, users will be asked to set up an account for one of these companies. They’ll ask the user to provide evidence and answer questions about themselves.

  • Identity providers check the details users provide against records held by organisations like credit agencies.
  • You can choose from different levels of identity assurance (confidence that users are who they say they are) depending on whether a risk assessment suggests your service faces a high or low risk of identity fraud.
  • Users can use their identity account to easily sign in to your service again and access other government services that use GOV.UK Verify.
  • User data is protected to a high standard.
  • GOV.UK Verify continually monitors for identity fraud.

Read more about how GOV.UK Verify works.

Secure by design

Working with the National Cyber Security Centre and the Privacy and Consumer Advisory Group, the GOV.UK Verify team designed GOV.UK Verify to:

  • meet the highest anti-fraud standards
  • protect users’ privacy
  • meet EU rules like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Read about the identity assurance principles that GOV.UK Verify follows.

Supported by the people who built it

The GOV.UK Verify team at the Government Digital Service (GDS) gives services:

Contact the GOV.UK Verify support team if you need help or want to give feedback.

Photograph of the GOV.UK Verify team

Tried and trusted

You do not need to build your own digital identity check from scratch or go through a long procurement process.

GOV.UK Verify has been designed and tested by GDS and it’s being used across government. More than 3 million users are using GOV.UK Verify to access services run by organisations including:

“Being able to verify their identity online saves our users time and means we can start processing their application quicker.”

– Lisa Keenaghan, Digital Service Manager, Disclosure and Barring Service

Email us if you’d like to know more about using GOV.UK Verify.