bitcoinpolicyuk on Nostr: Bitcoin transactions sit on a public ledger, so linking a verified identity to an ...

Bitcoin transactions sit on a public ledger, so linking a verified identity to an address or transaction can expose a previously pseudonymous history.

As digital credentials become easier to reuse across government and private services, policy needs much tighter limits on what can be requested, recorded and linked.

The GOV.UK framework will allow certified verification services to use information held in Wallet.

Identity rules designed for bank accounts cannot be copied unchanged onto an open ledger.

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The government said national digital ID was cancelled in July. The work around GOV.UK Wallet, digital driving licences and One Login carried on.

GOV.UK Wallet is still live, the Veteran Card is already digital and the driving licence is next. The government’s own technical documentation was updated again on 1 and 3 September, including work on issuing and revoking test digital driving licences.

One Login is still growing as the gateway into government services, with more than 23 million users. This week, licensed premises in England and Wales can also accept certified digital proof of age for alcohol sales.

What was taken off the table was the politically visible product. The systems for issuing, storing and checking digital credentials kept developing.

Some of the government’s data incidents:

- Electoral Commission: around 40 million people affected by a cyber breach.
- MoD: data linked to more than 18,500 Afghan applicants exposed.
- PSNI: details of 9,483 officers and staff published online.
- HMRC: stolen identity data used to reach about 100,000 online tax accounts.

If more of our official documents and identity credentials are going into reusable digital systems, I want to know:

- who can request them?
- what is recorded?
- when they are used?
- how is it stored?
- who has access?
- how long that information is kept?
- whether people who refuse the digital route will still have an equivalent way to access the service?

The public was told “digital ID cancelled”. The government’s own development record shows the digital identity work carried on.

The technical documents for GOV.UK Wallet, including the September updates on digital driving licences, are here:

https://docs.wallet.service.gov.uk/