UK digital ID proposal implies issuance to teens, govt botches the message again

A strange round of controversy has arisen in the UK, as public debate begins with stakeholders and the media coming to terms with what has been announced, and what remains unclear.

PM Keir Starmer announced a plan last week to require all employment in the UK to be conditional on having a national digital ID, as a means of deterring immigration. The policy clearly implies that teenagers must have the digital ID to work legally.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) wrote in its response to a petition demanding the digital ID proposal be withdrawn that the credential is intended for “UK citizens and legal residents aged 16 and over (although we will consider through consultation if this should be age 13 and over).”

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was questioned in a media interview about the possible inclusion of children 13 through 15 years old in the mandatory digital identity plan, and suggested it is no big deal.

“Lots of 13-year-olds already do [have a form of digital ID], and what the department is going to be consulting on is exactly how that should be taken forward,” Cooper said, as quoted by the BBC.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for science, innovation and technology Victoria Collins called it proof of mission creep, and said that “It’s frankly sinister, unnecessary, and a clear step towards state overreach.”

Starmer is calling for a national debate, as he recognizes (perhaps belatedly) that the government must convince people of the “huge benefits” he says it will deliver, according to the Independent. His comments came during a visit to India, during which he has praised Aadhaar and met with one of its chief architects.

The outlet cites polling from More in Common indicating that support for a UK national digital ID has fallen from a net positive of 35 percent months ago to a net negative of 14 percent.

Advice from Sumsub, IBM

An incremental rollout starting with low-risk use cases like right to work checks can help build trust in stages, according to comments emailed to Biometric Update by Sumsub.

“Digital IDs are happening whether the UK likes it or not,” comments Sumsub Head of Government Relations Kat Cloud. “The question now is how to implement it in a way that’s trusted, secure and effective. Digital IDs could make online interactions safer for consumers and help businesses reduce fraud and financial crime. But for companies to rely on them, regulators must clarify how digital IDs align with existing AML requirements – and the FCA is yet to provide guidance here.”

“The UK should look closely at successful digital ID initiatives across Europe,” Cloud says. “Estonia’s state-backed ID cards now support local businesses with 2,400 different e-services; meanwhile Denmark phased out their old digital identity system for another in 2021, driven by security concerns, with a 98 percent successful migration rate.”

A post by IBM Consulting Government Center of Excellence Partner Stewart Jeacocke also invokes Estonia’s successful digital ID system in a post on how the UK can build trust in its own plans.

The post recommends using familiar initiatives like GOV.UK One Login and integrating open standards like verifiable credentials to ease the path to public acceptance. The ability of Estonians to see who has accessed their data and why is held up as an example of the kind of human-centricity that builds trust, and public key encryption can help solve what IBM calls “the privacy paradox.”

Identified in 2008, the paradox is that citizens demand more effective identity management from governments, but often oppose initiatives to provide them on privacy and civil liberties grounds.

Article Topics

BritCard  |  digital ID  |  digital trust  |  government services  |  IBM  |  identity management  |  Sumsub  |  UK digital ID