Do Brits generally approve of the new compulsory national digital ID?

Don't see the issue wouldn't bother me either way. I don't understand why as a country we have to fight against every new thing thats introduced especially when it will make no difference to our lives

Or would the criminals just get smarter and find more ways around it?

Well well well.

Did anyone read about the gang of foreign nationals who defrauded the DWP and claimed 50 million pounds of benefits with fake names. Surely if we have I.D cards and this is required to claim said benefits it cuts out this kind of fraud, 🤷‍♀️

I presume you will need a passport and or driver's licence to get an id card?

I see no issue in someone getting one but it seems illogical you need other id to get id card, so someone would have to have some form of id to start with, they wont appear out of thin air

Slippery slope

If govt already have everything they need, then why is this needed in addition?

(I agree the govt has enough info on us already), what’s missing is that is isn’t all joined up across systems, so things are known in isolation or within a limited set of systems. A full picture of a person isn’t currently available to government without considerable legwork and overhead (rightfully so in my opinion).

What happens if people don't have a smartphone ?

The government has all that information online already. They already know who we are, where we live, how much we earn, what car we drive and more. I don't see it makes much difference that we'd have to provide something on our phone instead of the letter we got sent with our NI number (or in my case a postcard) so we can work.
However, it has big potential failure written all over it, it's going to cost how much? and I would like more transparency about how it's going to work and essential safeguards.

The identity will contain name, date of birth, information on nationality or residency status, and a photo. So the same as a passport which is also digitally stored. Does your Mum have a passport?

My parents grew up in communist countries where if you went against the government?You could be killed. 2 of my uncles, apparently quite mild mannered men were killed by the government for criticising the policies.
My very straight mum who has never broken a law in her life is so opposed to this.Because she knows if it gets in the wrong hands (hello reform) it could lead to terrible abuse of power.

I’m against it. I don’t want a ‘Brit’ Id. I’m Irish, I live in NI, I’m Allowed to be Irish as per GFA.

I have no problem with it but I've lived in countries where it's standard for everyone to have an ID card. Not sure why it's taken us so long.

ID Card is not the same as a Digital ID

… yet none of this happens in the dozens of countries that have ID cards 🙄

Respecfully disagree @MelliC

Fraudsters will always find ways around systems like this. It will always be a problem.

Professional services can do what they have always done to solve these problems. Employ people. We shouldnt be trying to automate every single part of life. Otherwise what’s the point in us all being here.

Agencies have enough forms of existing ID to join things up with NI numbers, birth certificates and passports.

The above benefits nowhere near outweigh the cost of our individual freedoms.

then there is also the fact that we will all have to pay for it. It will inevitably go over budget and cost billions more than we are initially told

And that’s before I even get to data security.

Waste of money, all of which will go to the rich.
As always.

Imagine a world where your ID is linked to your bank, internet use, healthcare, driving licence, ability to travel abroad, your social media accounts, shopping etc…

Currently many of these things require some kind of verification, some don’t (yet). Centralising these using a single source of ID effect provides endless information about you to whomever our government sees fit, and can be used to limit your personal freedoms e.g have a debt? They can take it right out of your account. Say something politically incorrect online? That’s your internet access suspended. Vaccination record out of date? That’s you banned from entering shops. Essentially it can and would lead to a fundamental loss of freedoms and the right to a private life. It could provide the power to essentially shut “undesirables” out of society.

its too big a price to pay for ‘convenience’ or to curb illegal immigration (which it wont do anyway).

Horizon postmasters scandal?

facial recognition incorrect identification

Hacking

Why is it terrifying? I don’t get it.

I agree that people are always very keen to moan about anything the government does. They don't want to give their basic details to the government but Mumsnet already have 100 times more than that and they don't care.

It won't be scrapped. I think that it is very necessary and useful for many reasons.

Did you see they tracked down £500m in fraud using AI?

I imagine that would grow a great deal moreif they could more confidently identify people. It is often very difficult to establish definitively that the John Smith in one set of data is the same one as a John Smith in another. Unless you have a reliable and consistent identifier in both, of course.

I also think it will be useful for "joined up govenment"> Not just immigration but it will be useful for intra agency co operation (eg doctors / schools / social services).

It will also solve issues faced by the big professional services industries - banking, legal, financial who spend a lot of money & effort doing compliance /due diligence to make sure that they aren't dealing with proceeds of crime or engaging in money laundering.

I could give you a list of many more socially useful applications.

Tony Blair’s son’s company profits

I would imagine it's going to be a way for some shitty Capita like company to get its hands on loads of our information and probably charge us £50 for the privilege. There will be a lot of older people who won't have a clue how to access this.

An actual physical ID card like lots of EU countries on doesn't bother me-this would.

I've had one for 20+ years in Sweden (both a physical biometric card and the online authorised access one which has scannable QR codes that authorise your id)

I think it is a way of reducing fraud as you present/scan it to prove your eligibility or identity for

• medical treatment and accessing medical records
• education
• exams
• accessing public services (benefits etc)
• collecting parcels
• making large purchases
• travel - can travel within the Nordic countries and went to Finland with it

I have never had to show it to the police though apart when I got it through the police station passport office

If anything is being made compulsory, people should be questioning why.

I don’t see any material benefit to the average person and only benefits for government and big business.

Having a single ID that can be linked across systems has so much potential to be misused, its actually terrifying and could (will) lead to a loss of personal freedoms. We are not supposed to live like this.