A lack of clarity surrounding the definition of what makes a certified digital identity service provider, is causing confusion within the property sector.

Credas Technologies has also found that non-certified providers are adding to this confusion by copying the language and rhetoric used in the government’s Digital Identity Trust Framework, giving the impression to estate and letting agents that their products are indeed government certified when in fact they are not.

In December 2021, the UK government published the UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework. Inside, it explained that the government wanted to enable businesses such as estate and letting agents to use digital identity service providers (IDSPs) to complete ID verification checks on their behalf.

The guidance sets out exactly how IDSPs can become certified to complete ID checks for the Right to Work, Right to Rent, and DBS schemes. This framework offers a set of rules that companies must agree to follow in order to conduct secure and trustworthy checks.

However, while this trust framework refers to Right to Rent, Right to Work and DBS schemes, there are also a number of commercial ‘schemes’ that are not certified under the government’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework, even if some of the IDSPs within the scheme are.

By mimicking the language used by the DIATF, these uncertified schemes are confusing agents and landlords by giving the impression that they themselves are government certified, according to the identity verification provider.

The government provides a live list of certified IDSPs and if a company or scheme does not appear on this list, it is not certified. But it is also important to note that various providers are certified to different degrees and, in fact, just 18 of the 34 that appear on the government list are certified to carry out right to rent checks.

Therefore, it is vital that agents and landlords alike are fully aware of just who is, and who is not, officially UK government certified before they instruct an IDSP.

Tim Barnett, CEO of Credas Technologies, said: “It’s quick and easy to find the official list of government-certified digital ID verification providers.

“Unfortunately, in recent months we have witnessed real confusion amongst many estate and letting agents between authentic UK government certification and those being offered by some private companies that hold themselves out to be government certified but are not.

“The good news is that the DCMS and HMRC are now engaging with a number of stakeholders in the property buying and selling sector, including Credas Technologies, which should result in a clearer picture for estate and letting agents in the future”.