A proposed UK system would act as a mediator for all transactions and activities needing verification, The Daily Skeptic reports. The UK has a new digital ID plan, which would allow it to act as the mediator for every transaction requiring verification.
A digital ID consultation runs until May 5th; it is an opportunity for British people to give feedback. Three million have already signed a petition opposing it.
The Power of the Digital ID
The information emerging from the consultation suggests the government plans to create a centralized system for UK citizens to verify their identity and access public services. They would use the existing government database to operate across different departments, including private and third-sector providers. It sacrifices privacy. The reason to do it is to cut costs and bureaucracy, which doesn’t seem to warrant giving up the privacy of all the people in the UK. In the wrong hands, that can easily be used to control people.
The digital ID system would build a comprehensive, ongoing record of citizens’ activities, potentially functioning as an audit and tracking system. It keeps an audit trail. The audit trail might start with right-to-work checks (the stated purpose of the system), but could later be extended to other areas, such as health, creating a record-keeping and auditing system that could be used for other purposes.
Meanwhile, the digital ID consultation proposes creating a “government checker service” to be used whenever someone uses their digital ID. Every time a person uses the state system for a driving license or passport, to provide a service, to hire a car, or to confirm identity, the digital system could be used. It would serve as a tracker of all of a person’s movements and activities.
The kinds of things it affects:
For example:
- Locked out of essential services?
- Unable to work legally?
- No access to banking?
- Blocked from driving licence applications?
- Cut off from pensions, childcare support, and more?
- Restricted from physical spaces because… “computer says no?”
The digital ID could easily function as a permissions system. It sounds like a CCP Social credit system in the making, a mass surveillance
For those who are interested, there is a three-part series on The Daily Skeptic.