As a Dual British/Swedish Citizen, I really do not trust the UK government. They have proven over and over and over, that at every opportunity presented they will increase their own authority. I don’t believe I have personally witnessed any other advanced economy that so ardently marches towards authoritarianism.
So, no matter if it’s a good idea or not. I can’t in good faith advise the UK having more powers. Unfortunately the UK government themselves can sort of just grant themselves more power. So…
[0]: https://e-estonia.com/card-security-risk/
[1]: https://therecord.media/estonia-says-a-hacker-downloaded-286...
But retractions never get the same visibility, and it's already made the impression they wanted the post to make.
Not a great site but gives the gist:
https://www.newsweek.com/british-police-explain-video-office...
https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/votes/202509...
Or indeed in one notable case the person who was arrested for a T-Shirt about "Plasticine action"
> The Government has no plans to stop the introduction of Digital ID cards, and is working closely with companies to implement it as quickly and effectively as possible to enable UK users to benefit from its protections.
The more left leaning people I know are foaming at the mouth over how Labour have operated since being elected, all moderates (outside London) I know tend to lean Conservative (though that party seems to be AWOL since the election) and the only party I hear that is gaining any popularity is Reform, and they are doing so at an alarming pace.
4 years is a long time, but it seems inevitable its a two horse race between Reform (given polls I have to presume not everyone who votes for them is a racist twit) and Labour, and Labour seem hell bent on alienating any one who isn't centre-right, and they have to contend with Reform for those votes. Maybe it's politicking to a degree I don't understand, but it seems like a very odd strategy.
For those outside the UK look at this chart to see how fast Reform are rising:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_U...
Yet also: a country's requirement for identification is orthogonal to it becoming a totalitarian police state.
In British politics, there is a strong current of opposition to international institutions and treaties such as the European Convention on Human Rights[1][2] and the International Criminal Court[3]. The UK's commitment to human rights is enough in doubt that one encounters situations such as German courts being unable to extradite a suspected criminal because of the poor treatment of prisoners in Britain[4].
Countries like Germany and Belgium are able to have mandatory ID cards without too much issue because of characteristics including their written (and actively litigated) constitutions, judicial independence and proportionally representative election systems. ID cards might be make them lean more or less totalitarian - but it doesn't matter as much, as the rules about identification make up only a small part of a huge and robust framework of law and human rights.
With few constitutional protections for UK citizens, and what independent institutions there are under constant attack from various political parties, I don't think those who object to digital ID can be blamed for being suspicious of the government's motivations.
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/25/tory-candid...
[2]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/08/21/labour-mp-eu...
[3]: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/3/threats-and-intimida...
[4]: https://eucrim.eu/news/german-court-denies-extradition-to-uk...
Assaulting and trying to stab a man burning a Quran - Suspended sentence
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8xr12yx5l4o watch the video and tell me this man should be A) not in prison and B) in the country after said prison sentence
However, as mentioned, I can’t in good faith argue for the government to have an easier time categorising people. Such a system is so ripe for abuse. I have even advocated for it based on the Estonian eID system and the Swedish BankID (though I am aware of Danish and Norwegian BankID- I never used those).
I’m still fully convinced that the British “Online Safety Bill” is actually a ploy to ensure that they have linked accounts to identity on any site where comments can be made; so they can prosecute people for expressing opinions[0]. Why else go for Wikipedia, and why else focus on sites with public commentary. You can’t say it’s to prevent pedophiles when with the right hand you imprison people for saying things online while with the left hand releasing actual pedophiles into society[1]
To be fair, they did say it wasn’t primarily about protecting children[2], but then I guess I should figure out what else the OSA is for.
[0]: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-10-2025-0022...
[1]: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/prisoners-ear... & https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce80nl1k0p3o
[2]: >>44910285
Fundamentally though, that doesn't change the fact that the US can order a Swedish bank to either freeze access to a customer or the bank can no longer do business in the US.
It depends on the country and its relationship with the people. If the people trust that their government represents the people's interests, there is little push-back. In countries where citizens have reason to believe their government is hijacked by interests that do not have their best interests at heart, then every move is viewed with suspicion.
In this case people are tying Digital ID to CBDCs and social credit systems, which is a reasonable thing to do, given this is exactly how China uses them to enforce 15-minute cities with checkpoints between them. All citizens conversations are tracked, their movements are restricted as well [1], and their ability to purchase goods & services are tightly regulated based on their behavior via the social credit system. This is the world that people who are pushing back against this are trying to avoid.
There are many more cases of harassment by the police or arrests, the most recent example that comes to mind being Graham Linehan. These are clearly not as bad as prosecutions, but still create a chilling effect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter_joke_trial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Dankula
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/glasgow-bin...
– Authenticate RPs: no over-asking
– Unobservability: keys on user devices
– Selective disclosure: minimal attributes
– Unlinkability: ZKP-based anonymous credentials
– Deniability: designated-verifier ZKPs
[1] https://media.ccc.de/v/38c3-eu-s-digital-identity-systems-re...
[2] >>45359074
[0]: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-57403049
[1]: https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/pro-palestine-activists-dama...
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/jordan-petersons-chine...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State
When the state is more likely to cause you problems than help you out, you want them to be bad at it. The corrupt cop going on a fishing expedition to try to bust you for something because you're dating his ex, who can't find anything because it's "spread out, fragmented, stored with multiple conflicting versions" -- that's what you want to happen.
It's also not just about the government. If you give everyone a government ID which is easy to use over the internet, private companies will then demand that you use it over the internet and use it as a tracking ID. Which is the evil to be inhibited.
Predictably enough, then...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Optus_data_breach
> In September 2022, Australian telecommunications company Optus suffered a data breach that affected up to 10 million current and former customers comprising a third of Australia's population. Information was illegally obtained, including names, dates of birth, home addresses, telephone numbers, email contacts, and numbers of passports and driving licences.
We're talking on the order of a few hundred arrests per year for section 127 of the Communications Act and 1500 per year for the Malicious Communications Act, which includes stuff like racial harassment, domestic abuse, pedophilic grooming, and a whole host of things that I would hope you agree should be illegal.
Nevada's DMV was part of a hack a couple of months ago, and it caused chaos beyond just drivers licenses.
https://www.2news.com/news/local/nevada-restores-fingerprint...
This is an excellent real-world example of why having all your data eggs in one basket is a terrible idea.
Needless to say there were no arrests, no jail time, not even threats of jail time, it was 1:30pm, the woman was 54 years old, and she had posted comments calling for a councillor's resignation.
There's an argument in there about whether councillors have a bit too much influence on local police behaviour. But it gets drowned out by hyperbole, embellishment, and an over-eagerness to link it all up to a nation-wide conspiracy.
[0] >>44593022
https://securityaffairs.com/54969/hacking/flight-bookings.ht...
> We will introduce a digital ID within this Parliament to help tackle illegal migration, make accessing government services easier, and enable wider efficiencies. We will consult on details soon.
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