The disclosure relates to a method of authenticating a digital credential of a bearer by a validating device, the method including capturing the bearer credential by the validating device and transmitting to a validation service the bearer credential with a validator credential bound to the validating device. The method also includes at the validation service, validating the bearer credential and the validation credential, and if the validator credential is valid, using the bearer credential to access a data item of a digital profile and creating an electronic message for transmission to the validating device, the electronic message indicating the data item and comprising a fresh validator credential generated by the validation service. The method further includes issuing a fresh bearer credential and creating an electronic message to transmit the fresh bearer credential to an address associated with the bearer.