Why Britain needs a digital ID system

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Elsewhere in Europe, surprisingly, few issues are as controversial as the national ID system. Opponents have long condemned ID cards as a path to an Orwellian surveillance state. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has already ruled out the suggestion that his Labor government should to introduce digital ID cards to control immigration But as Britain tries to reform and modernize its battered public services, despite controversy and difficulties, it would make sense to integrate the digital identity system into the programs.

Digital IDs have potential advantages over legacy photo IDs: typically by combining a catch-all digital identifier with personal data, they can be used to streamline access to public services and conduct transactions with private businesses to store official documents, qualifications, membership cards and become a digital wallet electronic IDs For everything from ordering prescriptions to voting, the system estimates savings 2 percent of GDP one year Other countries such as AustraliaSingapore and Italy have established digital identification schemes, either voluntary or mandatory.

A British eID could further fuel public service reform by helping, for example, to integrate personal health records and patient data and simplify welfare payments. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, founded by the former prime minister (a longtime supporter of digital ID), grades Such a scheme could boost public finances by around £2 billion a year, mainly by reducing benefit fraud and improving tax collection, in addition to wider economic benefits . One entry The initiative, which will allow one-time access to public services, can be created in one parliamentary term, and 90 percent of citizens will be registered.

A functional digital ID could avoid document hunting when opening bank accounts or buying a home and help prevent identity theft. Proponents argue that a national ID system could also help reduce “small boat” migrants crossing the Channel given that one of the main attractions of the United Kingdom is the perception that the lack of ID cards makes it easier to disappear into the gray economy than in many European counterparts. Requiring an electronic ID to access benefits and housing can be disruptive to undocumented migrants and human trafficking gangs.

There are many reasons for caution. Getting the technology right is vital given the sensitivity to data privacy and the dangers of hacking and cyber-attacks. Britain has a dismal record in public sector IT; think the Post Office Horizon scandal. Some Labor argue the digital ID plan is too complicated and politically damaging to add to the challenge of restructuring an already overstretched and cash-strapped service then the national identity scheme introduced in much better economic times by the Blair government.

But there are many existing systems that Britain can learn from or copy. Most public IT services are so outdated that it is worth trying to move to the next generation of technology, as Estonia did in the 1990s carries smartphones stuffed with apps that can track everything from the steps they take to the color of socks they buy.

While opposition is still vocal, more so, a YouGov poll last year found more than half UK adults support mandatory ID cards. UK e-ID would require debate and consultation. It wouldn’t be easy. But if Britain really wants a modern state, it is an idea whose moment has come.