What is 'Primary Authority'?

Primary Authority is a UK government process that enables businesses to form a legal partnership with one local authority in order to provide assured and tailored advice on complying with trading standards (including age verification) to their customers, that other local regulators must respect. It provides an 'added value' in addition to the age verification service itself, due the additional legal protection it provides.

About OneID's Primary Authority advice

As part of a coordinated partnership with Milton Keynes Trading Standards, OneID® is now able to give Primary Authority advice. This advice means that businesses and consumers are protected when using OneID®’s Age Verification products. Businesses who adopt our Age Verification products can prove that they have taken effective safety measures when selling age restricted products online, in a way that is legitimate, and government approved.

This can protect your business from fines or prosecution should you ever be accused of mis-selling to underage buyers. Safely selling age restricted products online can be a difficult process and our Age Verification Products now provide an added layer of protection to both business and consumer. 

This advice can be used as proof to show that robust steps were put in place to avoid mis-selling to underage buyers should your business ever face legal action or prosecution. This advice was developed by Milton Keynes Trading Standards as part of a Primary Authority coordinated partnership with OneID® (a registered trademark of Digital Identity Net U.K. Limited).  

This Advice has statutory effect in accordance with the provisions of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008.  

Primary Authority advice means that if you adopt this advice in your business, it must be respected by all other local authorities (enforcement authorities), as a result, they cannot ask you to adopt a different policy or carry out additional checks above what is required in this advice.  

To use the OneID® Platform, you are required to sign up to the OneID® terms and conditions of service, which include terms relating to the Primary Authority coordinated partnership. 

 An increase in online shopping 

In recent years we have seen an ever-increasing amount of consumers shopping online. From alcohol, to blades and e-cigarettes, it is imperative to have a robust age verification process in place when selling age restricted products online.

It is easier than ever to access the internet from an array of different devices meaning that digital identity and age verification have never been more important. OneID® is a digital identity scheme with the social purpose of creating trust online at the heart of what we do. We are passionate about helping your business operate safely online. 

 Independent certification:  

The methodologies have been independently certified as meeting the requirements of PAS 1296:2018 by Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) – Code of Practice for Online Age Verification.

The Checks of Conformity independently assessed by competent and qualified audit professionals demonstrate that Digital Identity Net UK Limited (trading as OneID®), as an Age Check Provider, can accurately, appropriately and to acceptable and identified levels of assurance disseminate to a relying party whether a citizen is 18 years of age or over by reference to:

• Records of identity and date of birth held and maintained by a bank authorised and regulated under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

The systems are sufficiently robust and operational to an acceptable level of confidence so that you can rely upon age verification results for the purpose of securing compliance with age restricted sales legislation.

More information can be found at: https://www.accscheme.com/registry/digital-identity-net-u-k-ltd-oneid