Liberty submits their response to Digital ID consultation

The overview of Liberty’s response:

• There is a huge gap between the Government’s claims that its plans for digital ID centre privacy and user control and the system it has put forward, which connects people’s data across different areas of their lives in ways which would enable the Government to track and monitor all of us.
• The Government has a bad track record of keeping people’s data safe, and looks set to repeat these mistakes by building digital ID on existing systems like One Login, which have already been exposed to have serious failings.
• The consultation proposes giving people a ‘single unique identifier’ which connects personal information across different databases and gives current and future governments the ability to track, profile, and link people’s private data across systems. This is intrusive, risks exposing our personal information to be used in ways we have not agreed to, and undermines any Government commitments to privacy.
• The Government has also included concerning plans for the police to be able to use facial recognition with digital ID – something Liberty says is incompatible with a genuinely decentralised, privacy protective system.
• Liberty is also concerned that millions of the most marginalised people in the UK do not have access to a digital device, the internet or possess the digital skills needed to use digital ID. Therefore, there is a real risk that people could be further excluded if digital ID becomes the de facto way to access services.
• Finally, Liberty warned against plans for a “kill switch” which would enable the Government to revoke someone’s digital ID – saying strong regulations are needed to mitigate the acute human rights risk raised by the state being able to immediately stop a person’s right to work, access public services and prove who they are.

You can read Liberty’s full submission to the consultation here or download below.