Digital ID

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

The Government has announced that all working adults will need digital ID cards by the end of this Parliament. Initially, the system will be focused on right-to-work checks, with the potential to expand it to facilitate access to public services.

The scheme aims to give a digital ID to everyone with a legal right to be in the UK, which could then be checked by employers. Any digital ID system should focus on the creation of public good and protect individual liberty and privacy. It must be built with robust human rights safeguards, have strict data privacy and security standards, and be voluntary.

A digital ID which is mandatory for right-to-work checks will not meet these aims.

WHY SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED?

In a digital world, there is a greater need for a safe and secure way to prove our identities, but decades of data scandals and faulty programs suggest the Government can’t be trusted to get this right and keep our data safe.

Compulsory digital ID could create huge barriers for people facing digital exclusion, which disproportionately affects some of the most marginalised members of society, including those in poverty, people with disabilities, and the elderly, from housing and employment.

A digital ID system designed to reduce irregular migration would be plagued by human rights and discriminatory problems. It would be mandatory, give the Home Office huge surveillance powers over our lives (including our interactions with our employers, landlords, and public services), and would make migrants lives even more difficult and dangerous.

There are many countries that have mandatory ID systems, and there is no clear correlation between irregular migrant population, underground economies and ID policies. Before doubling down on this cruel and ineffective approach, the government should analyse how digital ID has worked elsewhere and examine if the supposed benefits in reducing migration stand up to scrutiny before rushing to introduce it here.

Compulsory digital ID would fundamentally change the way we live our daily lives in a way that would be hard to reverse. Once a system exists it would be easy for governments to bolt more things on, meaning we could find ourselves facing check points for more and more things we take for granted – like going to the doctors or sending our kids to school.

WHAT ARE WE CALLING FOR?

A good digital ID system promotes privacy and offers digital convenience for those who want it.

The Government must ensure any digital ID system:

• is voluntary
• respects our privacy and data  and adheres to the UK’s privacy laws
• only collects data that is needed, not the data that might one day be useful for the Government to have
• has firewalls around sensitive databases
• is designed to help people access public services more easily or prove their identity online, rather than be based on exclusion