AIBU to think that Digital ID will not stop illegal immigration, and nor is it a good idea?

London is used as an example because it's particularly bad with phones stolen at a rate of 1 per minute or something.

Can't be long now...
And some people will welcome that too.

Sneaking this through the back door of immigration control. Believe me, I live in Italy where we have digital ID cards and there is a black economy with plenty of illegal immigrants. This will not solve the problem, it's just something they'd like to have to track you. ID cards are awful, it makes you feel like you love in a police state. At least here it means you don't need a passport to travel in Europe. In the UK there is literally no advantage to the citizen.

Turkish barbers don't and won't ask for ID.

Good luck with mine.

It's about 19yo, perfect battery life - still works, so I can make phonecalls and send texts.

No way am I having a smart phone.

Phones are stolen in places other than London, batteries also run out in other places. Not sure what "in London" has to do with it

Hiya NCA friend please could you get your chums in Border Force to get off their arses and start clearing the massive shanty towns before you start asking for information you won't use anyway? Cheers beaucoup.

Fuck it why don’t we barcode everyone at birth?

Part of the incentive of coming over via smugglers is the lure of being able to work in the black economy. Indeed, many such smugglers bring migrants over for that very purpose. I'm fully behind Digital ID in principle anyway.

That's what I said. They lie and employers accept that.

In London you get your phone robbed (or battery dies), policeman then asks for ID you get fined because you can't produce it and can't access services because of your missing phone.

Asylum seekers are not allowed to work anyway. How does the ID card fix that? The employers who are already not checking right to work will continue to not check

As some working n serious and organised crime for two decades I can tell you that the lack of ID cards will have a huge impact on illegal migration. Next to knowing someone /family/friend in the UK the second most popular reason to make that horrific crossing is because we do not have ID cards and if you fail asylum applications, they can’t find you and deport you.. and if you disappear to the less savvy areas of the country you can work illegally for decades and then claim the right to family life under the ECHR .. I’m all for genuine asylum seekers by the way .. and am appalled that there is no safe place for asylum seekers from places like Afghanistan to safely claim asylum.. Ie Pakistan ..

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Blair and Macron where very much in favour of vaccine passports banning people from restaurants and shops without the required ID. Canada bans truckers who weren't vaccinated.

This is just one instance of it, an admin error could ban you from everywhere!

It’s a good idea providing the government can behave itself. However, the whole business of prison or at least recording a non crime incident against your name for mean tweets and no prison for assault/rape/CSA is really undermining my trust in the government.

Also public services don’t seem very well run atm - certainly not NHS records - so why would they be able to run a new nationwide initiative? Who will be capable of doing it? Will it be bid for by international data scraper orgs? I am thinking yes.

No scheme will ever be 100% perfect and is always going to have as advantages and disadvantages.

Some advantages I can see for this, outside of the whole immigration issue, is that everyone will have the relevant ID for being able to vote so people won't be turned away like they were at previous elections. It will help to cut down on illegal purchases and reduce the number of minors buying alcohol, vapes, etc and getting into clubs/pubs. Will mean only need to carry a phone for times where ID is needed (e.g., picking up parcels). Potential to make safeguarding more robust too as people won't be able to change their name in order to avoid flagging up on checks, can also help ID potentially vulnerable people (e.g., confused person found wandering or person found unresponsive/unwell). Potential to reduce ID fraud too.

Downsides are the same as already stated re: security and data protection. I'd also be concerned about criminalisation of the disenfranchised and of objectors to the scheme and the knock-on effect of this. Another concern I'd have is errors in the system/administration where it flags an incorrect ID or allocates an incorrect ID.

I'm not sure you do have to pay again for a change of address.
You certainly didn't need to pay for a replacement of paper one when you moved house.
It’s free to get a new licence if you’ve changed your name or address and still have your paper licence

And they are issued with a card showing their status.

If they don’t have this they won’t be getting the digital ID either. So it won’t solve anything. And will cause a whole host of other issues instead. It is not benign. Someone gains and it’s not the general population.

I’m all for it, it’s long overdue. Not specifically for immigration purposes but I feel we should know who is who.

Yes. But then I would have to pay again once I moved after the split or risk a £1,000 fine. Why pay twice when I'm broke and can barely afford food?

But for those who can't drive? Or afford a passport?

@INeedAnotherName Were you not aware that you could simply ask DVLA to change your paper licence for a photo one?

This happens automatically when older people (70) have to reapply for a licence but you can do it at any age.

Plus the software will require you to upgrade your phone regularly, so people won't be able to keep their phones for years because it would become de-facto illegal as you wouldn't have the ID software on your phone.

This is Apple and Samsung's dream!

Will people have to carry these at all times im thinking it will make my job easier in retail if everyone has ID