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

[Westfacing]

How will this prevent boat crossings?

Exactly, anyone that's working black is working under the radar anyway the only way this would make a difference is if there was actual spot checks in workplaces which immigration do sometimes but to be effective they would have to do a hell of a lot more also it's not only immigrants that work cash in hand, I really don't think this is about immigration

We don't know who our government is going to be. Europe is currently moving left and rightwards (mostly right). Even democratic governments can come up with harebrained or controlling policies. Also, once you give someone a power they tend to use it. I can remember when we were told, for example, that smart meters were just a more convenient way to submit meter readings. Now there is talk of energy companies using them to introduce surge pricing, and so on.

Hacking, identity theft, losing your phone; these are also big worries with this scheme. I don't trust the idea, I don't trust the government to implement it properly and securely and I don't trust future governments in how they will use it to control our behaviour.

I know France has physical ID - didn't know it was digitized.

One of the big problems with the likes of Deliveroo and illegal workers is subcontracting. So a perfectly legitimate person gets a delivery round (and one with uber etc etc) but they then get someone else (would is not a legitimate worker) to do the actual delivery and pay them a proportion of the fee. So the only way to stop it is to get the police to stop people on delivery bikes and check their ID and send them to an immigration detention centre if they are working illegally. I can't see it happening.

To operate the system successfully you would have to introduce it for everyone.

BUT what happens to drug addicts, alcoholics, those with learning difficulties. No ID card, no benefits. If they make ANY exclusions the system will have failed.

I do not agree with ID cards.

that is what i heard also

Everyone, including the government is aware of the dodgy deliveroo drivers, vape shops and barbers that are presumably money laundering or selling illegal stuff. Nothing is done. I’ve recently had to go through a load of legal stuff and have had to prove who I am multiple times etc. How do these illegals get away with it?

Will the NHS stop / refuse to treat people without a card, will criminals get deported, will it stop the illegal vape shops and barbers. IMO the answer is NO, they are just trying to make it look as if they are doing something. This something will simply just mean we all have to pay for a card when actually the honest hard working people can easily price who they are.

Ive lived in countries with ID cards and it was really useful. If this is digitised there will be much less opportunity for fraud- you cant change your fingerprints/ face that easily. I know it helped the police. And if it held health number, NI number, driving licence etc Im all for it. Could help identify the thousands who have overstayed their visas for one.

Could help identify the thousands who have overstayed their visas for one. How would this work?

Having lived and worked in several countries with mandatory ID cards, some of which many Brits will consider less ‘advanced’ than the U.K., it’s always baffled me that politically and practically the U.K. just finds this impossible.

My FIL doesn’t have a computer or a smartphone, and at 90+, there is no way he is going to be able to manage to obtain or use a digital ID. How are people like him supposed to get their ID? And what about homeless people?

I really hope the government thinks about everyone, when setting this up.

I also wonder how we are supposed to register the biometric markers on our ID. If we can’t do it with our own devices, presumably we’d need to go to somewhere official, to get them taken - quite an undertaking, for the adult population of the UK - expensive, too.

Many of the people who arrive here and make asylum claims destroy their ID and then make up an identity (e.g. saying they are from Syria when they are actually from Kazakhstan, etc. or claiming to be a minor when they are fully-grown adults). If their claim is successful these people will be given a legitimate digital ID with their bogus identity on it. How will that help anything? We need to know who these people are, not who they say they are. Even dental checks to assess true age are deemed too invasive. It feels like the wrong proof of identity issue is being addressed and is just going to land UK citizens with a whole new raft of problems.

It baffles me when people are surprised that different cultures might have different views on things.

Wherever the data is held, it’ll be cyber attacked in a week. You can almost hear the cyber farms in Russia whirring up. And any kid with GCSE computer science.

A nail bar near me was fined tens of thousands of pounds for employing illegal workers a few months ago. It presumably had the money to pay the fine as it is still up and running with its usual almost complete lack of customers. One suspects the dodgy will remain bafflingly untroubled by these new ID cards whereas the law-abiding will find them a right pain in the arse.

What baffles me about this is that migrants to the UK already have an ID card and penalties for illegal working are already absolutely eyewatering - there is a very stringent process for employers to follow to ensure that everyone they employ has the right to be in the UK.

Asylum seekers they have an "ARC" card - an ID card showing that they have claimed asylum with their name, nationality and DOB on. It will also say "work not permitted" or (if they've been waiting for a decision over a year, and have applied for permission) "work permitted - shortage occupations only"

Students or workers etc used to have a BRP - a biometric residence permit. As with the ARC card, a BRP is linked to fingerprints. However, this was migrated to eVisas which is essentially a digital ID card.

Was this a nice, easy swap, boding well for the prospects of expanding it to the entire population? Reader, it was not.

It was in fact such a disaster that there is a dedicated website for sorting out the problems. A report of the types of difficulty encountered is available here - the numbers are relatively small but when placed in the context of the small cohort this is being used for, still quite alarming - in six months there were nearly 500 reports. This Reddit chat is typical of the difficulties - now imagine that's your elderly mum trying to sort out an issue with her e-ID, without which she can't access her bank account, her pension, her bus pass, or even the library. Computer Weekly has noted concerns about the technical ability of the scheme and also serious issues with data protection.

I can't believe that any government would seriously now try to introduce this clusterfuck to the general population. Particularly since the impact it's had on actually preventing illegal working has been zero.

Good God -it’s 2025 not 1960. What a lot of pearl clutchers. Of course have id.

Your information is everywhere. Don’t you sign up for stuff online, buy stuff from Amazon, Use Google maps. They know all an out you. IDs would make life better.

I'm groaning at myself for typing this but I think you'll find it's actually 1984.

If it’s physical it’s always digitised.

It is 1984 -look at the nurseries that have been hacked, stop pretending we have any privacy.

I'm British and currently live in a country where ID cards are mandatory. It took a little getting used to but I don't mind it now. It is the absolute gatekeeper to everything- health care, employment, education etc. I can't even get my car serviced or a spare house key cut without showing it.

Actually, I don’t ever shop online, don’t use Amazon, have my location on my phone permanently off and never sign up for anything other than with a burner email address. And if I DID do most of the things above, that would be my CHOICE.

Exactly. I find brisih people.sound so sheltered and out of touch sometimes. I had one as a kid in all the countries we lived in and im old.now. its not a big deal. Its quite sweet really how unworldly people are. Yeah...they are tied to our bank accounts because people are really bothered how much I spend in bath and body 🙂

We already have birth certificates, driving licences and passports, why could we possibly need more ID? It's a fucking pain in the arse in Spain I can tell you. I would be voting against it if there was to be a vote.

The government already has digital info from passports, why do they need more digital info?

Given he doesn’t work, who cares. Whataboutisms make everyone look silly