In response to the Government’s proposals to introduce a new GOV.UK wallet and app, Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch said:
“This is a proposal for an all-encompassing digital ID system that will hold a huge amount of information on each of us from tax to health data, drawn from multiple government departments. It has the hallmarks of the nightmare database state envisaged with Blair’s failed ID card system, only in mobile, digital form. The addition of our facial recognition data makes this sprawling identity system incredibly sensitive, intrusive and a honeypot for hackers.
“The Government should modernise and give people digital options with identity documents, but this approach risks actually narrowing our choices and control over our own data. That’s because, despite our campaign, the Government is inexplicably refusing to legally protect the right to use non-digital ID, and hasn’t set out whether we can control how much of our sensitive information will be available via this wallet.
“Without such basic protections, this smacks of a mandatory ID system in all but name, disadvantaging the millions of people in this country who rely on physical documents and letters, and cannot or choose not to use digital identity systems.”
ENDS
NOTES
- More about Big Brother Watch’s campaign on digital ID can be found on our website.
- The Data Use and Access Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, will introduce a new set of rules to govern the future use and regulation of digital identity verification. Big Brother Watch is campaigning for a legal right for members of the public to use non-digital ID. Our latest briefing on the Data (Use and Access) Bill can be found here.
- Spokespeople are available for interview – please contact 07730439257 or info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk