The 26th Janurary was a defining moment not just for the national conversation on digital identity — but for the work we’ve been building at CDD Services.

Our Chair, David Crack, gave oral evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on behalf of the ADVP.    The session was part of the Committee’s ongoing enquiry into “Harnessing the potential of new digital forms of identity.”  As part of the Committee is brining together policymakers and practitioners to explore how digital identity can be delivered in ways that are secure, fair and grounded in real operational experience.

For us at CDD, this isn’t theory. It’s what we do every day.

A Headline for the Future: The SafeGuarden Data Cooperative

 One of the most important themes behind the discussion is a shift in how digital identity is understood.  The future is not just about verifying people. It’s about empowering them.

Through SafeGuarden, our data cooperative model, we are working towards a world where individuals can hold and reuse trusted digital credentials, reducing friction in everyday life while keeping control of their own information. This is about:

• Lowering barriers for people who are digitally or socially excluded
• Enabling trusted access to services, work and opportunities
• Building systems that return value to communities, not just platforms

For us, digital identity becomes part of local economic and social infrastructure — not a distant government system, but something practical, human and community-powered.

Spotlite: Trust in Action Through Pre-Employment Screening

Alongside this future-facing vision our Spotlite Right to Work and DBS pre-employment screening services, support employers across all sectors to screen new and existing staff safely and compliantly.

This work sits right at the intersection the Committee was exploring:

• Protecting sensitive personal data
• Preventing identity fraud
• Giving employers confidence in who they are hiring
• Delivering checks efficiently and proportionately

This isn’t speculative policy. It’s live infrastructure that both we and our fellow ADVP members are delivering right now. It shows that the UK already has a mature, responsible digital verification industry capable of delivering secure services today.

The Questions from MPs

The MPs on the Committee focused on the real-world fundamentals:

• What does digital identity cost employers in practice?
• How are certified Digital Verification Service (DVS) providers governed, trained and licensed?
• How is intelligence used responsibly?
• How do we manage cyber risk and data security?

These are exactly the issues we navigate daily through Spotlite and the wider verification ecosystem.

David’s key message was clear: the private sector in digital verification acts as a guardian of trust — built around security, fraud prevention and careful data stewardship.

People at the Centre, Not Systems

A central theme of the session was that digital identity must be built around individual agency and that smarter verification means less fraud, more privacy and stronger trust.

Strong backing for the DVS Trust Framework is essential to achieve this. Clear standards and governance create the conditions for innovation while maintaining public confidence.

At CDD Services and within ADVP, we continue to champion a simple principle:  Giving people meaningful control and ownership of their information and how it is used and shared.

In this context, digital identity is:

• Inclusive
• Secure
• Transparent
• Accountable

And it supports society without drifting into unnecessary surveillance.

What Comes Next

We will follow up this oral evidence with a written submission to the Committee, contributing further practical insight from both Spotlite’s operational screening services and the SafeGuarden data cooperative model.

At the same time, we continue to work with government and industry partners to help shape digital identity that is:

• Faster for employers.
• Safer for individuals.
• Fairer for communities.

You can watch the full evidence session here.

The future of digital identity is being shaped right now. Through Spotlite and SafeGuarden, CDD Services is helping ensure that future is built on trust, inclusion and real-world experience.