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Original poster

Optional National ID cards - would you get one if they came back?

103 replies

Libertyy · 22/12/2023 11:33

If this was another alternative to the current system we have and you could choose which organisations you would be okay with sharing your information automatically with (and those you didn’t would ask you for ID in line with the current system), would you get one? I hold a national id card for a developing country and I personally don’t mind them - I find my life would be a lot easier just showing an ID card. Would you prefer this system?

OP posts:
Needmorelego · 22/12/2023 12:16

@AndThatWasNY I have needed photo ID for getting married and for signing a rental agreement.
If I was going to take a plane within the UK I would need one. I had to show photo ID when I filled out the forms for my daughters school admission. I needed one when I signed up for a college course.
I will need one for voting at the next election.

Wetweatherandmud · 22/12/2023 12:22

It's only £34 for a provisional driving licence. You don't have to learn to drive or take a test.

MissAmbrosia · 22/12/2023 12:24

Im abroad and have an obligatory one. It doesn't bother me - as pp said - all systems are linked. So I can use to travel within Schengen, I can get train tickets put on, prescriptions, it shows my right to access healthcare, benefits and public services. I use it to log in to do my tax return and to access official documents etc. We start a new rental lease next year, and I can see today that it is has been registered. We also have to prove where we live. I think this goes a long way to cutting down on fraud etc.

Needmorelego · 22/12/2023 12:24

@Wetweatherandmud I've never really thought of doing that (as a non driver it's not been on my radar).
Would it be accepted on things like UK internal flights, voting, etc?

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 12:25

Needmorelego · 22/12/2023 12:16

@AndThatWasNY I have needed photo ID for getting married and for signing a rental agreement.
If I was going to take a plane within the UK I would need one. I had to show photo ID when I filled out the forms for my daughters school admission. I needed one when I signed up for a college course.
I will need one for voting at the next election.

Same tbh. I get ID’d for age restricted products and plastic cutlery that can be sharpened (I’m 21 but look under 25), get ID’d to collect products on credit in person, sometimes get asked for ID to collect orders from certain shops, I get asked for multiple forms of ID for jobs, asked to provide ID for rental agreements, asked for my passport and dbs certificate to gain access onto my GP records, I use ID when voting in person (I also have postal voting enabled and I also am aware of the voter card you can apply for), a simple card would be easier since I get asked so often

OP posts:
useitorlose · 22/12/2023 12:25

I'm British but presently live in a country where ID cards are issued. It is the key to everything and in many ways that makes life admin much easier. There is no home postal delivery service here so your address isn't seen as something of importance- everything is linked to your ID card number instead.

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 12:26

Needmorelego · 22/12/2023 12:24

@Wetweatherandmud I've never really thought of doing that (as a non driver it's not been on my radar).
Would it be accepted on things like UK internal flights, voting, etc?

Absolutely it does, provisionals are usually accepted universally in the UK. I use mine for pretty much anything

OP posts:
MsMartini · 22/12/2023 12:31

I would. I've love an easy way to prove who I am that doesn't risk losing my passport to pick up a parcel, and it is interesting to hear how well it works in other countries.

In case useful to anyone, if you log into your gov gateway account, you can now download a card to apple wallet which has full name and NI number on. This has been accepted informally for eg when I forgot my Art Pass (have photo on phone). I tend to just carry my phone and have no real cards with me, and the cards in my apple wallet don't have full name visible. It wouldn't work for eg rental agreements but has done for picking up a parcel.

Needmorelego · 22/12/2023 12:34

@MsMartini what's a "gov gateway account" ?

Verv · 22/12/2023 12:34

Yeah I would, easier than lugging a passport around if you need to use ID.
I also have a driving licence but wouldn't be particularly bothered about doubling up.

Gwenhwyfar · 22/12/2023 12:40

Yes. The things we have to do because we don't have one are ridiculous.
At one point I couldn't open a bank account because I was a lodger and so had no utilities bill.
I had to use a provisional driving licence even though I had no intention of learning to drive.

Gwenhwyfar · 22/12/2023 12:42

Wetweatherandmud · 22/12/2023 12:22

It's only £34 for a provisional driving licence. You don't have to learn to drive or take a test.

Not available for everyone though eg people who have a disability that means they can't drive.

Maddy70 · 22/12/2023 12:43

I dont live in the uk. We have id cards. Theyre really useful tbh

PurpleSparkledPixie · 22/12/2023 12:47

Not everyone can get a provisional driving licence though (for medical reasons) and if you are using food banks that £34 is a hell of a lot of money. I actually have a full licence but it's the old paper one and it's no longer valid as it doesn't have a photo on it. I can't afford a passport. This means I can't make a government gateway account. I can't collect parcels from the post office. I can't open a bank account. I can't access a solicitor. At least three of these are needed if I want to divorce.

jays · 22/12/2023 12:50

I’m done with having aomethng to prove who I am. What I’m not ok with is having it scanned, monitored or used to collect data about me. Look at it for verification, fine, scan it, nope!

MsMartini · 22/12/2023 12:51

@needmorelego, how you sign in eg for tax https://www.gov.uk/log-in-register-hmrc-online-services.

https://paiyroll.com/national-insurance-number-available-on-apple-wallet/#:~:text=For%20those%20who%20haven't,step%2Dby%2Dstep%20guide! instructions

I think there is now an androed version for google wallet too.

Shinyandnew1 · 22/12/2023 12:52

Having an optional ID card is fine-it could be useful with medical info on it and would save carrying your passport around.

I wouldn’t want it to become something that cost £80, needed renewing at a cost of another £80 when you got married or every 5 years with a new photo. I also wouldn’t want it contracted out and produced by a company that makes Rishi Sunak/Mrs Sunak/Dido Harding/Michelle Mone or any of their mates a shed load of cash.

AnneElliott · 22/12/2023 12:53

Yes I would. I had one of the original ones issued in 2006 as I'm a civil servant. I thought they were great. No different to a passport but easier to carry around.

TheDandyLion · 22/12/2023 12:53

No I don't need one. I know who I am.

GettingStuffed · 22/12/2023 12:53

I don't want to carry my passport everywhere so yes I'd sign up for one. Too many companies ask for pictorial identification which not everyone has.

Needmorelego · 22/12/2023 12:58

@MsMartini thanks I will have a look.
I actually need to change my national insurance details from maiden name to married name - can you do that on there?
Been married 11 years and have never figured out how to do it 🤣

70sDuvet · 22/12/2023 12:59

Maybe....as long as it wasnt mandatory. It seems to big brother ish otherwise....though I know we happily all have driving licences and passports so I don't know why this thought popped into my head on reading the OP.

It could be useful.

During covid my driving licence was out of date but still legal due to backlogs. My passport was out of date but I wasn't going to renew it as we weren't going to travel. So both were useless. I was trying to log on to the HMRC website and computer definitely said NO. So a cheap/free ID card would have been good in that situation

alloalloallo · 22/12/2023 12:59

Needmorelego · 22/12/2023 11:43

I don't see why there can't be a credit size card with exactly the information that is on a passport.
Most of a passport is just pages for visas and stamps - but if you aren't travelling abroad you don't actually need that. The bio-whatsit information and photo is on one page - so why can't you just have that on a card for ID purposes?

Something like this would be fab.

My youngest DD is medically not allowed a driving licence. She has a passport but doesn’t like carrying it as it’s big/expensive to replace so a card sized ID like that would be perfect. Stick it in the back of her phone case and not have to worry about it.

She has a Citizen/Pass card but hardly anywhere will accept it.

Original poster
Libertyy · 22/12/2023 13:08

If they introduced a passport card that would work as a single form of ID then great, but they should also change the countersignatory requirements for passports - ridiculous that you need certain people to countersign when, like how is someone who owns a business with an alcohol license or a landlord with multiple homes on rent more reliable than people without qualifications who work with vulnerable people and need dbs checks? The whole system needs changing

OP posts:
ANightmareBeforeChristmas · 22/12/2023 13:09

Yes, 100%. I wish we had one.