Desmond Swayne MP has expressed opposition to the UK government's announcement regarding the potential introduction of a digital ID system for all citizens, meanwhile Big Brother Watch releases a report examining the dangers of digital ID.

Desmond Swayne [1] an MP for Forest West has responded [2] to the UK government’s plans looking at introducing digital ID to tackle illegal immigration. In a column for the Salsbury Journal, Swayne warns that the potential implementation of this technology raises concerns about privacy and the ability to conduct lawful activities without interference. He also suggests that once the technology is accessible, it is likely to be adapted for various purposes, leading to increased demands for accountability from individuals. “I share their concerns and I opposed the last Labour government’s proposals for ID cards under Tony Blair. We would be sacrificing a great deal of our privacy and our right to go about our lawful business unimpeded. Once available, many more uses would be found for such technology, which would increasingly require us to account for ourselves.”

While accepting that undocumented immigration has overwhelmed resources in the UK, Swayne believes there isn’t a convincing evidence that digital IDs could effectively address the issue, “Were I persuaded that digital IDs were a solution to our problem, I could at least consider if such a surrender of our privacy and liberty was worth it. I am not so persuaded. Employers, banks and landlords are already under an obligation to check the bona fides of employees and tenants. Means already exist by which that information can be had. The existence of a more convenient tool for checking will have no impact in the black economy where there is no intention of checking, in any event. The reality is not that we can’t identify illegal migrants; we have hotels and other accommodation burgeoning with them,” said Swayne.

During ITV Meridian's The Last Word Andrew Griffith who [3] is the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade pushed [4] back against a mandatory digital ID, “The government is doubling down, having failed to control our borders, they’re now trying to take some of the liberties we already enjoy as free citizens, I am against the idea of a mandatory ID,” said Griffith. The UK government's consideration of [5] a new digital ID scheme has also raised concerns among certain experts. David Rennie, [6] the chief trust officer at Orchestrating Identity said, “While the UK government is under pressure to take a tougher stance on illegal immigration, a digital identity card is not the right vehicle. In fact, positioning digital ID as a quick fix to a single issue will diminish much of the wider work that’s already been achieved around digital identity and at a significant cost,” said Rennie, “A mandatory ID card solution won’t address the problem the Home Office needs to solve the ability to establish and communicate whether someone has the right-to-work in this country  because the grey economy will simply bypass it. In fact, it is already surplus to requirements, government legislation passed in June this year enables UK employers to check an employee’s legal status digitally.”

Civil liberties organization Big Brother Watch has raised concerns regarding the significant privacy and security risks linked to mandatory digital identification in its latest report, [7] titled ‘Checkpoint Britain: the dangers of digital ID and why privacy must be protected.’ The report features original independent polling indicating that a substantial majority of the British public lacks confidence in the government’s ability to safeguard their digital ID information. “At their worst, digital ID systems can enable population-wide surveillance; infringe on civil liberties; monitor, predict or influence individuals’ decisions; identify individuals or groups for targeted interventions; and facilitate the tracking, persecution, or differential treatment of marginalised groups,” said the report. Big Brother Watch believes the UK government is promoting digital ID as a solution to a widely supported political objective, despite a lack of evidence regarding its effectiveness and no guarantees that it will not become necessary for various everyday functions and activities.

Rebecca Vincent [8] the Interim Director of Big Brother Watch also said [9] in a press release, “We are alarmed by the recent escalation in the Labour government’s moves towards adopting a mandatory digital ID scheme. Voters have had no say in the matter, nor has Parliament, yet we are being marched increasingly closer to a dangerous redline past which our civil liberties can never fully recover. The notion that digital ID will provide a magic-bullet solution for unauthorised immigration is ludicrous. It will not stop small boat crossings, and it will not deter those intent on using non-legal means of entering the country from doing so. But digital ID will create a huge burden for the largely law-abiding 60 million people who already live here and insert the state into many aspects of our everyday lives. The British people have a long and proud history of rejecting mandatory ID, and we should reject this one too. The stakes for our privacy rights have never been higher,” said Vincent.