data use: DWP Dynamic Trust Hub
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Dynamic Trust Hub explored a range of issues to enhance identity verification, including technology integration and possible security checks.
download PDF of DWP Dynamic Trust Hub visualisation
Watch the data use: DWP Dynamic Trust Hub animation
Proposed benefit:
- don’t need to confirm identity in person or with paper documents
- extra layer of security to the identity verification process
Potential harm:
- requires people to have HMRC account, passport, bank account, financial record, so may exclude people with complex lives;
- possible negative consequences for people whose identities can’t be verified;
- possible inaccuracies in automated checks (eg people may not own their own devices) which may be taken as a proxy for unverifiable identity
Questions to discuss or think about
- What do you think about the DWP Dynamic Trust Hub?
- Does anything surprise you about how data is being used here?
- How do you feel about the role that algorithms play in the DWP Dynamic Trust Hub?
- Look at the proposed benefits and potential harms of the DWP Dynamic Trust Hub. What matters more to you: the proposed benefit or concern?
- Do you think the DWP Dynamic Trust Hub is fair? Why/why not?
- How much do you feel like you understand the DWP Dynamic Trust Hub?
What people think about DWP Dynamic Trust Hub
Reasonably high levels of trust in the DWP and its data uses were identified in our survey, but responses from elsewhere contradicted this picture:
“I wouldn’t trust the DWP to keep ANY of my data safe, and I wouldn’t trust them not to abuse it.”
comment in a free text field in the survey
Belonging to a disadvantaged or minority group appeared to inform participants’ perceptions of data uses like Dynamic Trust Hub:
“This is hard for me because it’s in English and long. I know I am not accept, not continue. I just accept. […] I’m refugee. I come to this country because of problems in my country. I don’t want my location to be shared with this [Turkish] government. This is important for me. I know this country [UK] is very safe and – it is okay. […] But I don’t want to share with other countries, like my country.”
Gulay, Turkish-born, heterosexual woman
Some participants were concerned that Dynamic Trust Hub might have negative consequences for people from disadvantaged and minority groups who find it hard to use or engage with.
“People struggle anyway with online stuff. And also, you know, if someone’s working three jobs […] So yeah, to be managed or observed, because that’s what this is, on the time of day that you might log on or the location. And then if it doesn’t always match up, you’re going to have to go through another layer of security.”
Tahira, Pakistani, heterosexual woman, aged 45-54
“Who wants to be filling out security checks in a public library, where they can see what you’re doing on the computer, because the computers are placed so that everyone can see what you’re doing on the computer? You don’t want everyone seeing all that information about you. But if that’s the only place you have to actually use a computer, […] that’s really bad.”
Huso, black, British African, heterosexual woman, aged 25-34
Find out more
To find out more about what our participants said about the NHS antibiotic prescribing research project, read our welfare sector report or visit our archive of anonymised research data.