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The United Kingdom could soon see every adult required to carry a digital ID to work legally in the country. Prime Minister Keir Starmer proposed a plan last week that would make digital identification mandatory by 2029.
Employers would be required to check new hires against an app-based system containing personal information such as a person’s name, photo, date of birth, nationality, and residency status. This system would replace the current process of reviewing physical IDs or National Insurance numbers, the U.K.’s equivalent of a Social Security number.
“The proposals are the government’s latest bid to tackle illegal immigration, with the new ID being a form of proof of a citizen’s right to live and work in the UK,” reports Sky News. “The so-called ‘Brit card’ will be subject to a consultation and would require legislation to be passed, before being rolled out.”
Civil libertarians and privacy experts warn that such a scheme could function as a national tracking system. “Currently, when somebody presents a plastic driver’s license, that interaction is between the two parties, and the government is none the wiser,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) noted in June. “But digital driver licenses—and other sorts of digital IDs—are being built so that the system notifies the government every time an identity card is used, giving it a bird’s-eye view of where, when, and to whom people are showing their identity. That ‘phone home’ functionality becomes especially intrusive as people start having to use digital ID online, giving the government the ability to track your browsing history.”
Starmer’s proposal stops short of requiring digital IDs for all online activities. “Under the proposals, anybody starting a new job would be required to hold the digital ID, which could then be checked against a central database of those with the right to work in the UK,” Sky News reports.
Still, earlier this year, “Downing Street was exploring proposals for a digital ID card to crack down on illegal migration, rogue landlords and exploitative work,” The Guardian reported. Critics note that such a system could easily be expanded beyond employment verification.
Once in place, politicians could be tempted to use digital IDs for taxes, health records, benefits, or even access to social media and adult websites. Guardian columnist Gabby Hinsliff warned of darker possibilities:
Though Britons wouldn’t have to produce their IDs when stopped on the street under Starmer’s plan, “a future administration could easily change that. Just imagine how useful ID cards would be in rounding people up for Trump-style mass deportations—especially if that effort was linked to facial recognition technology already in use by the British police, creating a system capable of automatically scanning crowds anywhere from a rush-hour Tube station to a football match and matching faces against an immigration database.”
Hinsliff said she was horrified by such a prospect. But, she noted, “many will not be—especially if it’s sold as a tool to stop some group they do not like.”
Civil liberties advocates warn the risks are not just political but also technological. “A centralised digital ID scheme would also be a honeypot for hackers and foreign adversaries, creating huge digital security risks for our data,” said the group Big Brother Watch.
Digital ID Trends in the U.S.
While Britons debate the proposal, the U.S. has already taken steps toward its own form of digital identification. The Real ID Act is one step in this direction, and as of June, 13 states had launched digital driver’s license systems, while another 21 had passed legislation to implement or study them, according to the ACLU. New Jersey passed such a measure in August.
The ACLU has issued recommendations for building digital ID systems that protect privacy. More than 80 individuals and organizations have also signed a letter urging that digital IDs be built without “phone home” capabilities.
“We call on authorities everywhere to favor identity solutions that have no phone home capability whatsoever, and to prioritize privacy and security over interoperability and ease of implementation,” the letter states.
Whether in the U.K. or the U.S., experts warn that political climates marked by suspicion of immigrants, restrictions on speech, and expanded surveillance powers make it less likely governments will adopt the most privacy-protective versions of digital ID systems.
