UK Limits Digital Age Checks for Alcohol Sales to Certified Digital ID Providers

TL;DR — The UK's Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA) published guidance on 18 August 2026 clarifying how retailers and hospitality venues in England and Wales may accept digital proof of age for alcohol sales. Only digital verification services that are certified against the UK trust framework and listed on the DVS register qualify, the proof must meet a medium level of confidence, and biometric binding must confirm the credential belongs to the person presenting it. Age estimation technology cannot be certified and is excluded. The change rests on an amendment to the Licensing Act 2003 that is still awaiting Parliamentary approval and is expected to come into force in autumn 2026.

Read more: OfDIA guidance limits alcohol age checks to certified UK digital ID providers, Biometric Update, 18 August 2026; Enabling the use of digital verification services for alcohol age checks in England and Wales, GOV.UK.

What changes

The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) (Amendment) Order 2026 will allow licensed premises in England and Wales to accept digital proofs of age when selling or supplying alcohol, alongside existing physical documents. Adoption is optional for businesses, and local licensing conditions still apply.

What is allowed

• Only providers certified against the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework and registered on the DVS register, which now lists around 46 organisations.
• Digital proofs of age meeting a medium level of confidence.
• Biometric authentication and binding so the credential is tied to the person presenting it.
• Self-checkout and kiosk use, provided the check is programmatic rather than a visual glance at a phone screen.
• Only the personal data strictly needed for the age check may be processed.

What is not allowed

Age estimation technologies, which infer age from facial features rather than verifying a credential, cannot be certified against the trust framework and therefore cannot appear on the DVS register or be used on their own for alcohol sales. The Age Verification Providers Association has disagreed with that exclusion and asked for the position to be confirmed in statutory guidance rather than a blog post.

Timeline

The government has said it wants pubs and retailers able to accept digital ID for age checks by Christmas 2026, subject to the Order passing Parliament.