Over the last few months we’ve had a number of people asking questions about the View Driving Licence (VDL) service, hopefully this blog should go some way to answering these questions.
The purpose of VDL is to allow driving licence holders to view their own driver details online.
Only the licence holder is entitled to access the service as it’s a criminal offence to obtain someone else’s personal information without their permission, covered by the Data Protection Act 1998.
Third party access which is secure and convenient
At the moment third parties can access driver data using DVLA’s existing channels. This includes electronic data links through commercial intermediaries, our premium rate phone line, in writing to DVLA or by asking the driving licence holder to show their physical licence.
We’re currently engaging with stakeholders to develop a range of new, secure and convenient data enquiry services that will meet their needs. These services are being developed with the appropriate assurance framework in place to protect driver information security.
GOV.UK Verify
Over the coming months, driving licence holders who use VDL to access their driver details will do so via the new GOV.UK Verify service. GOV.UK Verify is the new way for people to prove who they are when using digital services. The service will authenticate users based on a number of identity questions and allow them to set up a unique account so they can access other government services. In time GOV.UK Verify will become the only way to access VDL.
If you have any queries, please post a question in the comments section below.
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26 comments
Comment by C H Clark posted on
I am a driving instructor and a jp so am very aware how some people claim not to have licence in court so they can show it when required to illegally claim entitlement to drive. I feel driving instructors need access to your records to confirm a valid provisional is held when dealing with new clients
Comment by Rohan posted on
Hi, thank you for your comment. We are currently developing a new web-based digital enquiry service that third parties (such as Driving Instructors and other businesses) can use to access driving licence information.
We hope to publish further information and updates via this blog soon. If you have not already done so you can opt to receive automatic notification of these updates here.
Comment by Margaret posted on
I am from a vehicle hire company. Will I be able to view a customers details online with their permission.
Comment by Rohan posted on
Hi Margaret thanks for your comment. The View Driving Licence service has been built for use by individual licence holders, however you may be interested to know that we are currently developing a real-time digital enquiry service that will allow third parties (such as employers and vehicle-hire companies) access to driving licence data providing they have the right to see it.
We hope to publish further information and updates via this blog soon. If you have not already done so you can opt to receive automatic notification of these updates here.
Comment by Eddie Graham posted on
Rohan thank you for the update, but their are so many commercial companies out there abusing this service even though you state the above. Organisations are doing their own internal consents or declarations stating that they have permission to use "View My Licence" with their written consent. The employee believes this is alright and so does the company.
Recruitment companies who use agency drivers, logistics companies who use agency drivers are using this portal.
I think it is best to add a couple of layers on to this web look up
Perhaps the individual should put in their email address/mobile number as another field. This way your system sends a confirmed email with link for them to click onto when the email comes in.
The other method is that when an IP address is doing the look up, lock it so it cant do another search for an hour. This will save all those companies doing multiple looks ups and this way the individual can have peace of mind
I dont think you have made the above clear enough - Perhaps you need to mention that the DVLA will police this and it is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE
But please add more layers in, its too easy Rohan
Thanks
Comment by Rohan posted on
Hi, thanks for your comments.
The Terms and Conditions for VDL clearly state that information provided via this service is not intended to, nor does it constitute legal, accounting, business, financial, tax or other professional advice or service. Therefore anyone using this service for these checks for these purposes may be at risk of failing their obligations to ensure their employees are sufficiently entitled to drive.
The service will shortly be introducing GOV.UK Verify. This new and robust means of assuring a person’s identity will in time become the only way to access VDL. This will add more layers to the authentication process.
We would not lock an IP address as it is quite legitimate for users from one organisation or even a family to make more than one enquiry from the same IP address. For example employees in a government department or a Local Authority or even a large employer, may access the service to view their own record in their own time.
Comment by Sarah Soden posted on
Are you able to provide any timescales to the development and possible deployment of a third party system?
Comment by Rohan posted on
Hi Sarah, we hope to publish further information and updates via this blog soon. If you have not already done so you can opt to receive automatic notification of these updates by clicking on the above 'Sign up to email updates from this blog' link.
Comment by Lauren posted on
Hi Rohan,
For clarity, is GOV.UK Verify to replace the Alpha version of Share my License? I work for a large organization whereby we hold a high volume of fleet as company cars, we currently release the vehicles by checking the paper part license and photo card license as due care. Of course now this change is in place we must look to find a solution to where the driver is still valid to drive, with over 60,000 checks per annum, using an intermediator would have a huge financial impact on our business.
I have a few questions which would I would be more than appreciative to have answers on;
is GOV.UK Verify to replace the Alpha version of Share my License?
Will GOV.UK Verify be free of charge, if so is there a threshold on the amount checks surpassed through this service?
Is there any time frame when we will know how this process will work?
Is the "go-live" date still Jan 15?
Can the owner of the vehicle sit with us and go into their VML while we are present to view validation
Is the current VML service likely to change further down the line
For companies like ourselves, we urgently need to find a solution if the go live date is still set for Jan 15, if the GOV.UK website turns out to be too administrative, then this leaves us with minimal time to find and source the right intermediator. Being a large corporate company, we have process in Finance to follow which can take weeks to gain approval.
Comment by Rohan posted on
Hi Lauren, GOV.UK Verify is the new way for individuals to access government services. It is unrelated to Share My Licence. Individuals wishes to use View Driving Licence will, in time, move to Verify as the means for accessing their record.
For more info on GOV.UK Verify click here.
In terms of Share My Licence, DVLA is currently considering the options for accessing this service and the timelines for delivering it. We will provide more information via this blog when available.
View Driving Licence is for individual drivers to view their own records. It is not intended for any other purpose. Please see earlier responses.
Thanks
Rohan
Comment by Lauren posted on
What about the Go Live date, this question was not answered
Comment by Rohan posted on
The timelines for delivering Share My Licence are currently being considered, the DVLA Digital blog will be updated once more information is available.
Comment by James posted on
When is the full version coming out?
In a eariler post you said end of September and still nothing?
Comment by Rohan posted on
View Driving Licence will go live on 7th October
Comment by James posted on
What would be the new features when it goes live?
Comment by Rohan posted on
During the beta phase, we've updated our privacy and cookie policies, amended wording to make the service easier to understand and also made it clearer that the service is only for individuals to use.
On top of this we have created a welsh version and worked with Government Digital Services to pilot the new identity assurance service to further strengthen the security of the view driving licence service.
Comment by Kerry posted on
Will the service that goes live today incorporate the verify process?
Comment by Rohan posted on
It will do in the coming months. Please keep an eye out on the blog for further progress.
Comment by Julie Parker posted on
Can I just be clear - can we as a large company check licences of staff providing we are cleared to do so by yourselves i.e. data protection etc. We are a wholly owned company of Cheshire East Council, therefore checks would be confidential and only completed by a few staff members cleared to do so? A bit like the old CRB check system?
If so how can we register for this service?
Comment by Rohan posted on
Hi Julie, no, this service is for drivers to view their own records. It is not intended for third parties to access driver data. Please use the existing channels available for driver licence checking.
Comment by Rob posted on
As a car dealership, we are required by insurers to check customer licences before we allow them to drive a vehicle of ours. This is especially important when loaning a courtesy car, but will create a bottleneck early mornings when all our sites would need to check licence validity before a car is driven away, which is not good for customer service.
The new VDL service requires licence number, NI number (something some people don't remember) and post code available.
Is this VDL the only service that is going to be available for businesses to check licences in these circumstances, or is there another which you sort of eluded to in the early part of your blog update?
Comment by Rohan posted on
Hi Rob, the View Driving Licence services is for individual motorists to view their own record and not for any other purpose. As I mentioned in my blog, third parties can access information via electronic data links through commercial intermediaries, our premium rate phone line, in writing to DVLA or by asking the driving licence holder to show their physical licence.
Comment by Richard Greenaway posted on
Hi
I am a LGV Driver and work for a haulage company. My question is this:-
We was told in a meeting that the paper part of the licence will no longer be valid after Jan 2015. For the company to be in good stead with the FTA and DVSA we will be asked once a year to sign a mandate,for the company to check our licence with DVLA. I do not have a problem with this, but when i was handed the mandate, it had 2 other third parties on it as well as DVLA. Can i be forced to give out my details, as I do not know these companies, and I would like to keep my details private.
Comment by Rohan posted on
Hi Richard, thank you for your query. DVLA will only disclose details from your driver record to third parties checking your driving entitlement with your freely given consent. If you have any concerns about the other parties named in the mandate who will see your details you may wish to raise this with the company with whom you have a relationship.
Comment by Karan posted on
Govt and DVLA should not release any personal details of the Licence holder. If any organisation required for verification, they should request it personally from the licence holder and prevent organisations to get access to digital / electronic data.
Company house, publishes all details and this has caused major bank fruad, as user details and date of birth is published by company house.
Comment by Rohan posted on
Thanks for the comment Karan - The View and Share Driving Licence services will enable the licence holder to access and share limited driving information with third parties. No information is disclosed to any third party through this service without the permission of the licence holder. DVLA may release driver data to third parties without the consent of the licence holder but only where there is a legal power to do so, for example to pursue traffic offences.