Marching orders delayed: Veterans' Digital ID off to a slow start
- Reference: 1769160487
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/23/slow_start_for_veterans_digital/
- Source link:
However this is less than 1 percent of the 1.8 million former forces personnel who are eligible for the physical Veteran Card. These physical cards have been automatically issued to those leaving the armed forces since 2019. Those who left the armed forces before then can apply for one for free.
The optional digital card, which the government had originally planned to launch in [1]the summer of 2025 , is held within the GOV.UK One Login app. Unlike the physical card, it cannot be used as photo identity for domestic British Airways flights or in applications for a Veterans Railcard for discounted rail tickets. And despite being digital, it cannot currently be used online, meaning it is limited to some in-person uses, such as registering as a veteran with a doctor or claiming cheaper entry to some museums.
[2]
The digital veterans ID is held in the GOV.UK One Login app, which the government plans to rebrand as the GOV.UK Wallet when it has added more forms of identity. In December, GDS started testing a digital version of the driving license - using the same app - with both its own staff and colleagues from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
[3]British Army's drone degree program set to take flight
[4]Congress quietly strips right-to-repair provisions from US military spending bill
[5]UK calls up Armed Forces veterans for digital ID soft launch
[6]UK patches air defense with 6 extra Land Ceptor missile launchers
"Later this year, the digital driving license will be rolled out more widely, enabling people to store their driving license on their phone, making it easier and faster to prove who you are and your driving entitlements," GDS said in a [7]blogpost .
GDS is working on digital programmatic verification of both veterans' ID cards and driving licenses, which would allow online use as well as in-person verification. It plans to involve third-party service providers in tests of how they can use programmatic verification later this year.
[8]
The work is part of the government's efforts to develop digital identity. It pre-dates prime minister Sir Kier Starmer's announcement in September that digital identity would be compulsory in right-to-work checks by the end of the current Parliament, which he [9]abandoned earlier this month. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/20/uk_armed_forces_id/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXNU0DTVGpasd3I8Rgg8BQAAAtc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/22/british_army_invests_in_drone_degree/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/09/us_military_right_to_repair_stripped/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/20/uk_armed_forces_id/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/22/uk_patches_air_defenses/
[7] https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2026/01/21/making-the-governments-first-digital-wallet-a-reality/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXNU0DTVGpasd3I8Rgg8BQAAAtc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/14/uk_digital_id_climbdown/
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Not even worth doing it for King and Country?
What do they expect?
For years now, week in, week out, the media and politicians have told us how dangerous the internet is, and how our data has been hacked. The bad publicity has been endless. A pivot to digital is overly complex with endless authentication checks, requires expensive, fiddly, complicated tech that has to be repeatedly replaced, and fails when the power goes off, the software updates, or for no apparent reason as all..
Paper is safer, cheaper and works. Resilience is important and tech is flakey.
Re: What do they expect?
Paper can also be forged or lost/stolen in exactly the same way as [badly designed/implemented] digital IDs can.
Yes: If the main service goes down, then a digital ID can't be checked, but if a paper ID requires the checker to know what a fake looks like (instead of having a strong authentication method to verify the user) how reliable is that at identifying a person?
Let's be honest here, digital IDs are the future but their use is based on having a good set of use cases, a solid, SECURE design and a well implemented (and secure) delivery. In the case of the UK, I think that it needs also to have a really honest and persuasive way of communicating why it is a good idea. No one has done that last bit yet and the use cases all seem disjointed, isolated and badly communicated..
I'm also going to say that, with the current crop of main consultancies (Crapita, Fujitsu, etc) having a solid, secure design and implementation is likely going to be a challenge.
Re: What do they expect?
If it's stored on a smartphone there's also the issue of people needing to recognise it and also of fakes. Exactly what's stored? A PDF?
Re: What do they expect?
I assume that if they ever get it sorted properly it will be stored in the devices' wallet the same as credit cards and gig tickets are. I've recently attended a couple of shows where the ticket used a contactless device as opposed to scanning a QR code, so it's not just a pdf file of the paper ticket. That would mean, of course, that organizations which wanted to accept the IDs would have to invest in card readers.
Personally I prefer to carry a paper ticket just cos I'm old and a bit paranoid about my phone running out of battery but more venues are using ticket agencies that don't allow printing and it's getting hard to avoid having to use the phone.
Re: What do they expect?
> Paper can also be forged or lost/stolen in exactly the same way as [badly designed/implemented] digital IDs can.
How does someone steal a piece of paper that's inside my wallet over TCP/IP from Russia?
Re: What do they expect?
I would say instead of paper, a plastic chipped/NFC card of the type the UK used before for non-EU residents before it was replaced with an app similar to that used for EU citizens would be more appropriate.
Is there power? Then a card reader can verify the chip/NFC online. If not, then at least you have physical proof with the card design/hologram/etc.
A mate of mine was a para, the type that just does his own thing and to hell with conforming if it doesn't fit the picture. Digital ID? He doesn't need it, when he hit retirement age I cut out a bit of cornflakes box and made him an OAP "bus pass" to take the piss. The likeness in the "photograph" that I drew is uncanny.... not! I found out he carries it in his wallet and has had some laughs while traveling, "Does this count?" LMFAO the Muppet :)
Single point of failure anyone?
I find this whole push of digital phone based id cards, drivers licenses etc to be mostly stupid. I'm out traveling, ohh my phone died since it's not charged no id or license (unless you have a classic one as backup with you), you are off somewhere your phone charged and ready, it drops and the screen dies, no id, and people say ohh you could lose your wallet with cards and id in it, yes you could, but I bet that if you ask 100 people how many times they have lost their wallets and how many times their phone have been without charge or damaged I'm sure the latter part would dwarf the former. I'm also against concentrating more and more vital things to one single vulnerable point of failure. Having digital as a compliment, fine, but it's not in any way shape or form a replacement.
If it can't be used for the most attractive benefits, what's the point? I was considering applying, not sure it's worth the few minutes of my time.