Proving Identity Online

The government of New Zealand is proposing a new service that will allow people to prove their identity to government agencies online and in real time. A public consultation on the identity verification service is to be held from now until December 2007. The aim is to gather feedback from potential users about how this new identity verification service might work.

As part of their authentication programme, this Identity Verification Service will be provided by the State Services Commission.

The Identity Verification Service will be a completely optional service. Its aim is to provide users with a quick, easy, secure way to access government agencies online. It will support but not replace traditional methods of establishing identity and verifying identity.

Currently, proving your identity to government agencies can require you to provide multiple documents, which can take time. Additionally, different agencies require different forms of identification. The new identity verification service will give users a quick, safe, and easy way to do this while protecting privacy.