Earlier this year, Liberal Democrats tabled an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill enshrining the right to non-digital ID. Rejecting the amendment, Labour’s Chris Bryant MP had then said that people would be able to use physical ID “in every circumstance”. Now, as the Government plans to introduce a mandatory digital ID for work, Lib Dem MP Steff Aquarone has criticised Labour for going back on its word.
Jasleen Chaggar, Big Brother Watch’s legal and policy officer said: “Backtracking on the promise of being able to use non-digital methods to prove your identity is yet another feature of this undemocratic mandatory digital ID scheme.
The government must abandon its ill-conceived plans for a mandatory digital ID and guarantee a legal right to non-digital forms of ID.”