The Government is considering a proposal for a digital ID called ‘BritCard’ by the thinktank Labour Together. Prospect Magazine’s deputy editor Ellen Halliday get reactions from Big Brother Watch’s Interim Director Rebecca Vincent and former Labour home secretary David Blunkett.
Explaining the threats a mandatory digital ID system poses to our rights, Rebecca Vincent says that it “is really about the government wanting access to, and control of, all of our data”.
“We don’t see how the current proposal by Labour Together would accomplish its flimsy promises on immigration, or these other areas of societal concern. It’s not a panacea”, she adds.
“We have concerns about creating this massive, centralised database of all of our information, including possibly now biometrics, without a guarantee that criminal elements, foreign adversaries or other malicious actors also couldn’t gain access to it. So there’s a number of concerns, ranging from the philosophical, ideological underpinnings here to the practical, digital security aspects”, Rebecca concludes.