Government websites

On my list of odd jobs to do before I go away is to renew my driving license. Of course, using any government related website is an awful journey through bad UX, pointless questions and for some reason painfully small interface elements.

Questions related to my driving license data... shouldn't the DVLA (the agency who has all my data) know this already? Why do we still use this ancient system of National Insurance numbers to verify identity? Computers can hack even relatively sophisticated encryption systems now. Brute forcing a nine character code is child's play.

I have to pay to renew my license, a small fee but a fee nonetheless. Then I have two cut my old one in two and return it to the DVLA. By pigeon I presume?

The rumours of a fully digital driving license could not come quicker.