Three jurisdictions are taking three different routes to digital identity. Each has reached a decision point in the second half of 2026.
European Union
Under the revised eIDAS Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183), every member state must offer its citizens and residents at least one European Digital Identity Wallet by 24 December 2026. That date binds governments. Obligations on private organisations to accept the wallet follow later, by sector. A business that will have to accept it should register as a relying party early and plan to support more than one credential format.
United Kingdom
In September 2025 the government announced a mandatory digital ID. In January 2026 it dropped the mandatory element, while keeping its plan to make digital right-to-work checks compulsory. A consultation ran from 10 March to 5 May 2026. In May the Home Affairs Committee called the original announcement rushed and asked for costs and a roadmap.
The firmer change is in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. On one specialist account, since 1 October 2026 an employer or landlord who checks identity digitally must use a provider on the statutory register of digital verification services.
United States
There is no national digital identity scheme. States issue mobile driving licences, and the main phone wallets carry them. The stronger legal driver is age assurance: Texas, Utah, Louisiana and California have each passed laws requiring app stores to verify users’ ages, with start dates running from 2026 into 2027, and the Texas law is under constitutional challenge.
The privacy question
Well-designed digital identity lets a person prove one fact, such as being over 18, without handing over a whole document. Badly designed, it creates a record of every place a person has proved who they are.
The legal question to ask of any scheme is who can see where the credential was used.
This article is general information on the law as at November 2026. It is not legal advice and has not been updated since that date. See the terms of use.