New UK ID app yet again fumbles tech that Apple has already perfected

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In a repeat of how it fumbled its costly and entirely failed COVID app, the UK is ignoring Apple Wallet and will instead develop its own digital wallet for documents such as driving licences.

UK Parliament
UK Parliament



The move to digital driving licences, passports, and so on seems so inevitable that Apple has been working on it for years. So it's no surprise that the UK is following the US's lead and implementing the same idea, yet it's not the surprise it should be that the country is going it alone.

In the official announcement, the UK government says that it is simplifying digital documents and in doing so to save the equivalent of $55 billion. The UK's economy has yet to recover from 14 years of a Conservative government that split the country from the EU, so saving money is clearly a priority.

It's just that the now Labour government could save quite a bit more by implementing Apple's existing system instead. Plus Google's Android equivalent, which also already exists.

Rather than that, though, the claim is that "Brits will be given the option to use a digital version of their driver's licence," and it will be in a new "GOV.UK Wallet" app. GOV.UK is the current website for all government issues such as paying tax.

It is important to note that this government is not the same one that lost COVID death statistics because it put them in columns in Excel instead of rows. It's also not the one that allegedly decided to develop its own COVID app in order to later harvest and sell data, but couldn't even get it to work.

So it's not the same government that spent $12.25 million developing that app before giving in and switching to Apple and Google's solution. And it's not the same government whose leader at the time, Boris Johnson, stood up in Parliament and said that there was no working COVID app "anywhere in the world so far."

He said that publicly at a point when countless US States and countries had long implemented Apple and Google's system. On that same day, Johnson could have downloaded a complete app because Germany made its version open-source.

So the UK has been through a bad patch with technology, and it should be unfair to assume it's going to do so again. But the announcement of developing its own app to save money, instead of using the existing free ones is not promising.

And speaking of promises, the UK government's new app "will be launched later this year." Don't bet on it -- a 2020 study found that no UK government IT projects were even "highly likely" to be delivered on time.

In fairness, self-employed UK residents are using the GOV.UK website to pay their tax bills in January 2025, though. For first-time users, the sign-on is a complex mishmash of QR codes, mobile apps, and online, but it's quick and straightforward for existing users.

It's also of course a highly complex job developing a digital wallet app that's sufficiently easy to use yet secure. But then, that's another reason to use the tried and tested solutions from Apple and Google.



Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    cmdawsonnccmdawsonnc Posts: 5unconfirmed, member
    Please tell us how you really feel  :D

    Seriously despite the politically leaning article you are completely right - why reinvent the wheel and require yet another app to be installed and managed?
    appleinsideruserentropyswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 2 of 18
    I wouldn’t say it’s politically leaning as it bashes both sides.. the UK is notorious for being more than capable of shooting itself in its own foot ….on more than one occasion.
    williamlondonentropyswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 3 of 18
    jimh2jimh2 Posts: 685member
    No politics needed at all. The complete incompetence of government does not require a bright light to find. As soon as I hear any entity say we can do it better I know taxpayer money is about to blown and it will cost more than existing solutions. It also will not perform as good, not have the functionality it needs or being even as remotely as secure. Even if you hate America the Germans are giving their solution away. 

    You always take to gimme when trying to go about on your own so long as the gimme's are proven solutions. Passing on them shows complete fiscal irresponsibility. 
    entropyswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 4 of 18
    riverkoriverko Posts: 251member
    CZ government issued own app for national ID cards. Seems to work quite ok… I’d like to have my ID in the Apple Wallet. But question is - is Apple ready to offer the feature in EU? Does it charge anything to the governments to store the IDs? Similarly as it charges banks for active cards and transactions made with Apple Pay?
    I’d expect some kind of analysis in this way as what the motivation for governments is not to use Apple’s solution…
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  • Reply 5 of 18
    As you rightly point out, our IT projects have a habit of some combination of one or more of: being late, never delivered, way over budget or flawed. I’m with the view that this won’t work well. Our government has changed (to huge relief) but this legacy of poor efforts stretches back some way.
    kkqd1337watto_cobra
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  • Reply 6 of 18
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 7,015member
    I'll stick with a physical driver's license, thank you. I mean, do you really want to hand your phone to a LEO telling them to go ahead and look at it?
    kkqd1337appleinsideruserwilliamlondonbaconstangwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 7 of 18
    It will be a disaster. Most government projects are.

    But:

    1. Whatever the implementation, there will be a huge amount of public scepticism and resistance in the UK about using any digital ID. People in the UK are extremely against and anxious about being forced into a cashless/digital only society. Occasionally a politician will propose the idea of a national identity card and they get destroyed. This will feel like a road to this, so will be hated.

    2. Personally I agree Governments should only be deploying digital IDs on platforms they have absolute control of. Yes it will be garbage compared to Apple & Google's implementation, but I don't trust Apple/Google/Microsoft at all and I think we need to be careful as a society how reliant we become on them.
    williamlondonmobiuswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 8 of 18
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,350member
    I am very wary about any government ID program. Always best to assume it is a way for the patrician class to better keep their boot down on the plebeians face. Forever.
    And even if their current mob’s focus is benign, who is to say the next one, or the one after is? These apps are a lot, lot more than just a way to store your driver’s licence.

    Many governments around the world are doing their own versions.  With the same CF of building and implementation.  Where I am it has taken five years and it still has a heap of problems. And the sign up process is, well difficult and glacial. And you have to link to a lot of ID. Lots and lots of ID (much much more than a driver’s licence) which as a result of this app gets all  brought together quite handily for out lords and masters.
    beowulfschmidtwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 9 of 18
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 8,103member
    It is logical for governments to want to offer solutions without being tied to third parties.

    How they go about it can vary and the UK does have a poor reputation for many things 'digital'. 

    Getting my own Gov.UK.ID wasn't the most streamlined process. 

    That said, the complexity involved is much higher than most people assume and involves more than a wallet system. 

    Apple has a long history of moving from one technology to another quickly. That brings a level of agility that governments will never enjoy. 

    Most, if not all governments, simply cannot do that. Critical systems and infrastructure require resolving one headache after another. It's basically a non-stop line of headaches with the need of backwards compatibility and interoperability of systems that were often created with other goals in mind. 

    I have some experience with specific systems that, in their day (the eighties), were just massive right from the outset. For example, BRoCS and IRIS within the UK government and my brother was involved in a multi-billion pound conversion project for the UK government too. 

    Apple does not have a track record with critical infrastructure and having a secure enclave TEE and Digital Wallet is just a tiny part of what is needed. 

    With government, inevitably, comes mismanagement, or corruption, or policy changes, or budget cutbacks and a whole host of other potential issues. That is the nature of government. Not just the UK government. It also happens in the private sector. 

    Just look at Apple during the Copland years and that was just a company with a small userbase providing a limited set of services. Today, Apple is far more of a CE company. 

    Yes. It now has to provide certain 'digital' features by law and adhere to specific regulations where it operates but its responsibility is limited too.

    Lack of resources can also hinder projects (again, just like at companies like Apple, Alphabet, Meta etc). 

    Somehow the UK 'lost' one of my international payments. Finding it wasn't an issue because it was a digital transfer but I've been told it could around 56 weeks for it to be allocated correctly. 56 weeks is crazy. 

    Not using critical infrastructure and having less responsibility and having the advantage of moving quickly from one technology to another, makes companies agile first movers and we've seen where first mover status can lead us. It is not always good for anyone else. 

    No government is going to expose itself to that. They can collaborate, but wanting to provide their own solution is always going to be the preferred option. 

    The EU is currently testing its own Digital Wallets systems in four largescale pilots. Each member state will have at least one option to use. Roll out is scheduled for next year although I suspect there will be delays. It is government after all. 

    The EU is also developing its own cloud fabric solutions to ensure independence from outside influence. The same is happening with the EU processor initiative. 

    Those solutions are both public/private endeavours. I don't know how the UK is approaching the issue but being alone (post Brexit) does not make things easier.

    In spite of all the potential negatives the desire to produce a homegrown solution is completely understandable. 





    edited January 22
    dewmemuthuk_vanalingamkkqd1337tiredskillswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 10 of 18
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,867member
    avon b7 said:
    It is logical for governments to want to offer solutions without being tied to third parties ...

    ... <cut to save space>

    In spite of all the potential negatives the desire to produce a homegrown solution is completely understandable. 

    Are you trying to confuse us with logic again? What you're saying makes complete sense. One could write a thousand similar articles lamenting why a government, or even private businesses, took it upon themselves to do what outsiders would casually classify as "reinventing the wheel." 

    This even happens within businesses where more than one group is trying to solve the same problem that another inside group is already working on or has already solved. Some of it is a case of "not invented here" (NIH) syndrome which seems to occur too often in engineering organizations. I wish I could say that it is a rare occurrence, but in my experience, it is embarrassingly common ... sigh.

    I believe a lot of these situations occur because different people, teams, companies, business sectors, local, state,  federal governments, countries, etc., often start out with the mentality of: "We have to solve this problem, "We need to own the solution to this problem," "We need to control the solution," and of course the cherry on top of the sundae, "We need to get credit for solving this problem." This mentality is especially effective when applying tunnel vision as a primary execution strategy.

    As you said, there are of course pragmatic considerations behind a lot of these sort of things. I saw the same kind of thing happen when I worked in the defense contracting businesses. At one point the government wanted to control every aspect of what got built down to the specification of individual electrical and electronic components and even programming languages. They also required up-front acquisition of spares for the expected service life of the systems. Everything was one-off and had to meet stringent mil-spec requirements with testing out the wazoo. Claims of "$1000 hammers" were actually true because that's what it cost when you add up all the required testing, certification, and documentation. 

    Ultimately these systems became exorbitantly expense to acquire and maintain. Cost and schedule overruns were the norm. Like any system based on a snapshot of technology when a project started, and with long lead times, most of the systems became obsolete or very inefficient shortly into their service life. 

    The response to these issues led to a lot of systems being redesigned and new systems being built using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. I worked on one of the very first COTS redesigns while the project was still in development and on this small project the contract was cut in half simply by using COTS components and subsystems. 

    Sounds like a great solution ... until a few years or so later when the COTS components could no longer be maintained because they were no longer commercially viable for the manufacturer to produce. I ran into similar issues with non-military related systems and products using commercial off-the-shelf components. Simple things like memory chips became unavailable because they were too small to justify any manufacturer to produce them. 

    Many times these supplier issues were partially caused by the quest to limit component costs on high-volume or low-margin products. If you can save $0.50 on a memory chip by buying the absolute minimum size that works, that adds up. But it also makes it more likely that you're going to run into supplier issues down the line. But that's someone else's problem, not yours.
    edited January 22
    tiredskills
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  • Reply 11 of 18
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,165member
    And factor in that they drive on the wrong side of the road!!!
    The HORROR!
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 12 of 18
    What a dreadfully uninformed, foolish, and biased point of view - clearly anti-government. Uk.gov is the envy of the world, with the UK having an amazingly well designed, accessible, digital presence for all of its citizens across almost all services. Uk.gov is apolitical, as most of the government outside of the USA is, not being subject to the whims of elected fools. I’d also like to point out that the USA is not leading here, although a handful of states do use the platform. 

    The government is launching a digital driving license, but is also creating a platform for a digital passport, and other digital ID that citizens hold. Documents that Apple and Google do not support. They have also NOT said the digital driving license would not be compatible with Apple and Google’s platforms either at launch or later. 

    Having being involved with Apple’s digital student ID initiatives I know that they do not make supporting their platform easy, have ridiculous requirements that are hard to meet, and charge for the privilege. The author has also missed that driving licenses are very different in the UK, they are not expected to be carried whilst driving, or available on demand to police if you are stopped, nor are they as easy to obtain as they are in the USA, so expectations are quite different. 

    As to the comments regarding the UK’s robust covid response, and Covid app. Given this was under development prior to Apple and Google’s joint development, I don’t see how this authors narrative is accurate. Where is the evidence that the UK government wanted to sell citizens data? It does not, as a matter of law, have the ability to do so. Did it want more data that the Apple/Google platform provide? Yes, and why not? The UK government, like so many others - and let’s remember who was President during the pandemic in the USA - does not exist to do anything but serve its citizens. 

    For citizens of the USA reading this, or anything else, please understand that UK politicians like politicians of other European countries, do not typically set out  to enrich themselves as a primary outcome, nor hold outrageous beliefs that they wish to impose on citizens. They are public servants, and whilst there are, unfortunately some bad eggs, generally those who benefit from exported USA political rhetoric which simply does not apply overseas. 

    So all in all, kindly bugger off, because you have no idea what you are talking about. 
    tiredskills
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  • Reply 13 of 18
    Politicians and hence Governments are idiots and are in particular technically and scientifically illiterate.

    Whilst most of the responses criticise - in this case the UK Government over their miserably bad (in)ability to do IT projects the reality is that the UK Government itself generally does not do these projects but outsources them to various IT consultancy firms or IT software firms. Most of these go to big and appallingly bad firms. They might send an initial senior and (hopefully) competent person to represent them during the bidding process but by reputation once they win it they then delegate it to an infinite number of monkeys. (If you pay peanuts you get monkeys.)

    Worse they will stick to the absolutely literal interpretation of the contract and will not correct obvious errors in the specification because they know once it goes wrong they will get even more business fixing these mistakes. Even when they deliver something that (mostly) works it is generally ugly as sin and horribly unfriendly and from a user perspective used to modern, simple, fast and friendly Internet systems - primitive beyond belief.

    Government departments at least in the UK also seem stuck in the 20th or even 19th century. HMRC for example still insist all evidence be submitted in paper form by post. This is despite the fact that financial service institutions - not generally regarded as being beacons of modern IT, all have moved to emailing PDFs to you or at least making them available to download rather than posting paper documents to you. The NHS still uses Windows XP  and fax machines! Not exclusively of course but these should all have been removed decades ago. The UK telecoms companies are rapidly discontinuing all ye olde analogue telephonic lines - you therefore cannot get a new analogue line so presumably they are using ATA - Analogue Terminal Adapters to keep their dinosaur thermal roll fax machines going. (Shudder!)

    So, yes the UK Government is stupid to do this both because they are very, very bad at it, and also because it is reinventing the wheel and having multiple wallet apps is crazy. I would not regard the US as being perfect here - it is absurd how slowly US states are being in getting their driving licenses added to e.g. Apple Wallet - so far it is only about 10 or 11 out of fifty of the US states who have achieved this. At least here in the UK it would be the entire country.

    Note: The current UK driving license being a physical only ID is currently effectively the same format as EU ones. However again due to the UK Government currently planning to (re)invent their own solution it is likely to be a uniquely UK one so UK citizens visiting the EU and vice versa - not to mention freight drivers will face issues whereas currently the UK and EU share the same physical format drivers license which as far as I am aware therefore all work via the same OCR solutions.
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 14 of 18
    What a dreadfully uninformed, foolish, and biased point of view - clearly anti-government. Uk.gov is the envy of the world, with the UK having an amazingly well designed, accessible, digital presence for all of its citizens across almost all services. Uk.gov is apolitical, as most of the government outside of the USA is, not being subject to the whims of elected fools. I’d also like to point out that the USA is not leading here, although a handful of states do use the platform. 

    The government is launching a digital driving license, but is also creating a platform for a digital passport, and other digital ID that citizens hold. Documents that Apple and Google do not support. They have also NOT said the digital driving license would not be compatible with Apple and Google’s platforms either at launch or later. 

    Having being involved with Apple’s digital student ID initiatives I know that they do not make supporting their platform easy, have ridiculous requirements that are hard to meet, and charge for the privilege. The author has also missed that driving licenses are very different in the UK, they are not expected to be carried whilst driving, or available on demand to police if you are stopped, nor are they as easy to obtain as they are in the USA, so expectations are quite different. 

    As to the comments regarding the UK’s robust covid response, and Covid app. Given this was under development prior to Apple and Google’s joint development, I don’t see how this authors narrative is accurate. Where is the evidence that the UK government wanted to sell citizens data? It does not, as a matter of law, have the ability to do so. Did it want more data that the Apple/Google platform provide? Yes, and why not? The UK government, like so many others - and let’s remember who was President during the pandemic in the USA - does not exist to do anything but serve its citizens. 

    For citizens of the USA reading this, or anything else, please understand that UK politicians like politicians of other European countries, do not typically set out  to enrich themselves as a primary outcome, nor hold outrageous beliefs that they wish to impose on citizens. They are public servants, and whilst there are, unfortunately some bad eggs, generally those who benefit from exported USA political rhetoric which simply does not apply overseas. 

    So all in all, kindly bugger off, because you have no idea what you are talking about. 
    While I agree the article was poorly written I would challenge the notion that Uk.gov is the envy of the world. Such chest thumping is similar to comments like "the NHS is the envy of the world".. hint it is not.

    UK Govt digital services remain trailing behind the curve of many nations and territories, but has improved over time playing catch up. The difference is that some nations have had digital identities in widespread use for decades leading to generations that know of nothing else.

    Now back on topic - could the UK digital ID solution also use the proprietary wallets of Apple, Google and others? Why yes of course. The UK Covid app already integrated with them while still keeping in-app documents as well. The key here is choice.


    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 15 of 18
    It does seem that using the Apple wallet is pretty onerous according to this BBC article. 

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59292649

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  • Reply 16 of 18

    William Gallagher appears to be following the path of Daniel Eran Dilger, writing without fully grasping the subject matter. Although his article includes a link to the Gov.uk press release, it seems he didn’t take the time to thoroughly read or understand it.

    Let’s set the record straight: the UK government’s launch of the GOV.UK Wallet is not just about the word ‘wallet.’ It’s a forward-thinking app designed to simplify access to services and important documents. This includes providing convenient availability of government-issued documents and streamlining tasks like applying for government services (e.g., childcare) or reporting a lost passport, among other uses. Misleading readers with incomplete or inaccurate information does a disservice to everyone.


    Those who are not anti-government:

    "UK has been a leader in digital government, ranking third in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Digital Government Index (2023) and first in the UN E-Government Development Index (2016)." https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-digital-government-review/state-of-digital-government-review
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  • Reply 17 of 18
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 8,103member
    acdeag said:
    It does seem that using the Apple wallet is pretty onerous according to this BBC article. 

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59292649

    For Apple it's both a direct and indirect revenue stream and it is definitely created with the idea of making users and entities more dependent on its technology. The same applies to Google to a lesser degree as alternative wallet systems are already available on Android. 

    I'm fine with government using it as an option but the minute it becomes a reduced option we have a problem. 

    Within the EU Apple has had to allow other wallet options. The same requirement will probably appear in other jurisdictions sooner or later. Probably including the UK. 

    We have to be careful with current digital devices as they can be prone to situations that require users to update their devices for various reasons. 

    My perfectly good tablets and older phones are now not deemed secure enough for certain online government interaction. With that in mind there is definitely space for a digital solution for those on the far end of the digital divide. That is often the people who are older and have basic needs. 

    With that in mind a secure yet simple device for digital storage of passports, ID, certificates, biometrics, health data etc could also be an option. 


    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 18 of 18
    maccamacca Posts: 29member
    Its funny how the article lists 14 years of the Conservatives and Brexit but doesn’t mention anything about covid and the billons supporting the people through the lockdowns. Nor how Labour policy is tanking the country. 
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