Digital ID: The Rising Debate Over Freedom, Privacy, and Control

Guest article by Mairi Allan

Currently in the UK, a Wallet and Digital ID App - a mobile app called 'GOV.UK Wallet' is set to launch at the end of 2025 (for both Android and iOS). It allows users to store government-issued documents, like veteran cards and digital driver’s licenses. By 2027, all UK government services issuing physical credentials must offer a digital alternative. This Labour government is considering a mandatory or widely used digital ID card (“BritCard”), but there is no official rollout timeline yet.

The GOV.UK Wallet has already begun phased deployment with public sector bodies who started in May 2024, and broader rollout is expected through 2025.

Some you may have experienced situations when they have collected your data digitally - if you bought a new car on finance or applied for a new job in the last year or two. It's time-consuming and often tricky but once they've got your data, that's it. The card would be linked to government records and could be checked by employers or landlords.

Eventually serving as a one-stop shop for a range of government services whilst also holding information and records on you - such as claiming benefits, ordering passports, storing your medical records, your vaccination status, carbon credit scores, etc. The list will be endless. It could have any police records, your social media activity, any arrests or cautions or even "hurty words" you may have written on Facebook - all logged on there for future employers to see!

Critics warn that a decades-long project to centralise identity could lock humanity into a permission-based digital system.

For some, the rise of digital identification systems represents progress — a step toward convenience, efficiency, and security in an increasingly online world. But for a growing number of critics, digital ID is not a neutral tool. It is, they argue, the culmination of a control grid that has been quietly under construction for decades.

Sceptics say the Covid-19 pandemic was the testing ground. Emergency measures, restrictions, and health passes revealed just how far populations could be pushed in the name of safety. Now, with governments and international bodies accelerating plans for digital IDs, critics insist that the final piece of a long-planned surveillance framework is falling into place.

Digital ID is not about convenience or modernisation, it is the linchpin of a system designed to monitor, restrict, and ultimately control every aspect of our lives.

Concerns centre on the scope of what digital ID could encompass. Once linked to financial accounts, healthcare access, travel permissions, or even speech online, it could give authorities — or corporations — unprecedented power. At the press of a button, critics warn, individuals could be denied access to money, medical treatment, or the ability to move freely.

Opponents describe this as a “digital prison.” They argue that those who comply — often out of fear or in pursuit of convenience — risk not only their own autonomy but also the future freedom of their children and grandchildren. Future generations may never know what it means to live outside constant surveillance.

Proponents of digital ID, by contrast, argue that it can help combat fraud, make cross-border travel easier, and streamline interactions with governments and businesses. In the European Union, for instance, the upcoming EU Digital Identity Wallet is being promoted as a secure way for citizens to store documents and credentials. In countries such as India and Estonia, digital ID systems are already widely used, though they remain controversial.

Still, critics believe the dangers far outweigh any convenience. To them, the introduction of digital ID marks a “line in the sand.” Once widely adopted, they say, the shift could be irreversible. Critics argue a mandatory digital ID would fundamentally change the relationship with the state and create a "papers, please" society, posing a risk to privacy and data security. A centralised digital ID could become a target for hackers and could lead to increased state surveillance.

The think-tank Labour Together has estimated the BritCard system would cost up to £400 million to build and around £10 million a year to administer as a free-to-use app.

If we accept digital ID, we may seal humanity’s future — and there may be no way back. There is no law right now to say we must have a "BritCard" it is a concept, not a legal requirement. Resist it, refuse it, and explain its dangers to others.

Privacy became a basic right in modern democracies for a reason: why are policy people proposing to casually abandon a core principle? And that's without getting into the risks of uploading vast amounts of personal information on "a leaky centralised system”.

By Mairi Allan

DoD

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