Monday, January 27, 2025
Does Labour have a hidden agenda to introduce ID cards?
Their fears revolve around plans launched last week by Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, for a gov.uk app and gov.uk wallet, intended to save time and hassle for millions by allowing them to carry on their phones digital versions of paper documents, similar to e-government apps already in use in countries including Poland, Estonia and Iceland.
These documents would include proofs of right to work in the UK, rights to benefits, veteran ID cards and DBS certificates, which employers use to check the criminal record of someone applying for a role. They add that the technology will include biometric security such as face scans:
Kyle said the technology would be voluntary and paper documents would continue to be used, but added that he was striving to make the app’s convenience so “compelling” that people would consider its use “unavoidable”.
The app will include a digital document wallet similar to those already installed on Apple and Google smartphones and will be “totally reminiscent of the way you shop, the way you bank, the way you travel and this is now the way you interact with your government”, Kyle said.
But campaigners are now calling for greater transparency about the new systems’ privacy impact before they are rolled out later this year.
“Kyle will not be department of science, innovation and technology minister for ever, and a future government could easily use the optional digital wallet as the launch pad for a mandatory ID scheme,” said Silkie Carlo, the director of the Big Brother Watch campaign group.
“The addition of our facial recognition data makes this sprawling identity system incredibly sensitive, intrusive and a honeypot for hackers.”
James Baker, the campaigns manager at Open Rights Group, said: “Is there going to be pressure for the app to become the portal that you have to interact with the government through?
“Do you end up in a world where it’s meant to be voluntary but it becomes so widely accepted that you can’t live without it? One future problem is it ends up evolving into a national identity database where every interaction is tracked, which has considerable privacy implications.”
The government is insistent of course that the use of this app will be purely voluntary and that there will be no central database. Officials also insist that the app and wallet will be highly secure, using security features that are built into modern smartphones, including facial recognition checks similar to those used when people pay using a digital bank card.
Nevertheless, Labour have form when it comes to ID cards, and it would be helpful to have assurances and some safeguards in place to ensure that this is not the start of something more.
