January 2026: UK Confirms Voluntary Digital ID as European Wallet Infrastructure Advances
January 2026 opened with the UK government confirming that digital identity will remain voluntary, while simultaneously accelerating the infrastructure that makes it work. The GOV.UK Wallet now has over 15,000 veterans using the Digital Veteran Card, Companies House estimates 6-7 million individuals will need identity verification by November 2026, and the DVS Trust Framework faces its first major certification transition deadline on 31st March. Meanwhile, the EU published Architecture Reference Framework version 2.4.0 with 11 months remaining until the Member State wallet deployment deadline, and Ireland announced a 2,000-person digital wallet pilot for Q1 2026.
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