Disclosure Scotland identity verification process: FOI release

Information requested

1. Please list the services that require users to verify their identity by sending in physical forms of documentation (e.g. a passport)?

2. For each of these services, how many identities were verified in this way in your 2019/20 financial year, and what did it cost to process?

3. Are these verifications performed by a third party or conducted by an in-house team?

4. Please list the services that allow users to use a digital method for proving their identity; and name the methods used (e.g. Gov.UK Verify or other equivalent digital biometric identity method)?

5. For each of these services, how many identities were verified in this way in your 2019/20 financial year, and what did it cost to process?

By ‘identity verification’ I mean the same definition used by Government which is ‘a digital identity is information used by computer systems to represent a unique person, organisation, application or device. So for a citizen or consumer, a “digital identity” is a trusted way of proving one or more attributes about themselves online or offline and the linkage of those attributes to that same person as a uniquely identifiable individual.’

Response

The answer to your questions are below:

1. None of our services require users to verify their identity by sending in physical forms of documentation.
2. Not applicable.
3. Not applicable.
4. The list of services are:

• Basic Disclosure online: this requires an identification and verification (ID &V) check through the application process. This is carried out by our partner agency, TransUnion. If this verification fails, the applicants is required to send copies of identity documentation to Disclosure Scotland (DS) as part of an exception process; and

• Basic Disclosure, Scheme Member Statement or a Scheme Member Statement (Countersigned) paper applications: these require applicants to send copies of identity documentation to Disclosure Scotland.

For the Financial Year 2019/20 TransUnion (Formerly Call credit) completed 110,316 ID&V checks at a cost of £56,261. The DS exceptions process for basic disclosure online completed 24,468 checks at a cost of £28,337. We also completed 26,307 checks at a cost of £42,506 for Basic Disclosure, Scheme Member Statement and Scheme Member Statement (Countersigned) applications.

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