- A petition to discard the mandatory digital identification plan has already reached more than one million signatures in just one day
- Critics warn against the risk of mass surveillance and digital control
- This echoed privacy and security concerns from civil societies and other politicians
An amazing number of British asks the government to refrain from introducing mandatory digital identification cards.
More than one million British have already signed a request asking to repeal the plan in just one day, with the number of signatures growing every minute.
Speaking from a conference in London on Friday (September 26), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer confirmed that the digital identification scheme will help combat illegal immigration. The scheme also promises to facilitate that citizens use vital government services.
This means that, contrary to other countries that have already implemented some forms of digital identification, all adults in the United Kingdom must have the so -called “British card” to demonstrate that they have the right to live and work in the country.
“We believe that this would be a step towards mass surveillance and digital control, and that no one should be forced to register with a state -controlled identification system,” says the petition, noting that “the identification cards were discarded in 2010, in our opinion for a good reason.”
The public’s feeling echoed the concerns from civil societies and political ranks equally. Big Brother Watch defenders already considered a digital identification as “Big Brother in Your Pocket” in January, when the first draft of the scheme was presented.
Can British cards be private and safe?
The system, explained the government, uses “latest generation encryption and authentication technology to maintain private and safe data.
However, these details do not seem enough to convince critics.
According to Silkie Carlo, director of the United Kingdom privacy defender, Big Brother Watch, digital identifications will do nothing to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the United Kingdom. But they will prefer to make Great Britain less free and safe.
“The incredibly confidential information about each and every one of us would be accumulated by the State and vulnerable to cyber attacks,” Carlo wrote.
After all, the United Kingdom’s public system has a bad history to keep people’s data safe. In March last year, for example, a ransomware gang pirate the NHS Dumfries and the Galloway digital database and stole 3TB of identification information belonging to both staff and staff.
Then there is the online security law, that experts warn that they could still represent a threat to a strong encryption.
Labor plan for mandatory digital identification risks to create a more authoritarian state. Under constant surveillance, we would have to go through digital control points only to live our daily life, with even more barriers to minorities, migrants and digitally excluded.September 25, 2025
The British card scheme does not convince exactly to the political world.
The former Labor Deputy Zarah Sultana considered a compulsory digital identification as “digital control points”, which would lead the British to live their daily lives in “constant surveillance.”
In a similar note, the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, said that “firmly opposes” the proposal, arguing that “it will not make any difference for illegal immigration, but will be used to control and penalize the rest of us.”
Critical voices even come from the Starmer party, with Nadia Whittome labeling the plan as “divisive and authoritarian nonsense.”
What follows?
Parliament should consider the request for debate now that it has received more than 100,000 signatures. So, we have to wait and see what the answer will be.
Starmer continues to trust that the plan would help take energetic measures against illegal work and promote the digitalization of the country, describing digital identification as “a huge opportunity for the United Kingdom.”
The government is now ready to “listen to a variety of opinions on how the service will be delivered” as part of a public consultation later in the year.
If it succeeds, the United Kingdom will join some European nations that have already implemented its own iteration under the EU digital identity wallet scheme. However, with a big difference: the British will be forced to join, regardless of whether or not they want.
You may also like
