As Keir Starmer’s government is reportedly considering yet another proposal for a mandatory universal digital ID system, it’s worth a reminder of what’s at stake for the privacy rights and civil liberties of tens of millions of citizens and residents in the UK.
Less than two months after the so-called “BritCard” proposal by pressure group Labour Together, which Downing Street said it was “considering”, reporting from both The Observer and The Times suggests that another, more secretive proposal for a universal digital ID is gaining support within government. Downing Street is said to be considering the “workability” of a “unique digital identifier” proposed in an internal paper by the Tony Blair Institute which has so far not been made public.
