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Ignoring my main concern that any digital project led by the current government will no doubt fail and be used as another excuse to funnel billions to "friends"

Ignoring my main concern that any digital project led by the current government will no doubt fail and be used as another excuse to funnel billions to "friends" (not alarmist, but fact), as someone else comments: "It’s not just about government. Introduce a digital ID and instantly it’ll become a requirement to give your digital ID to do anything at all - register a mobile phone, a bank account, an online shop, a library, a pub ... anything. Thus, as the article says, your whole life can be linked together and surveilled, not only by government but by dozens of unaccountable corporations."

wtmt 6y ago
> Ignoring my main concern that any digital project led by the current government will no doubt fail and be used as another excuse to funnel billions to "friends" (not alarmist, but fact), as someone else comments: > "It’s not just about government. Introduce a digital ID and instantly it’ll become a requirement to give your digital ID to do anything at all - register a mobile phone, a bank account, an online shop, a library, a pub ... anything. Thus, as the article says, your whole life can be linked together and surveilled, not only by government but by dozens of unaccountable corporations." This is exactly what happened in India with its biometric resident ID number, where the executive coerced people to link it with phone numbers, bank accounts and many other institutions (including giving it in schools and colleges), until the lethargic Supreme Court reduced its validity to government funded schemes alone (despite it causing starvation deaths and exclusions of people from their entitlements). Not to be outdone, the government enacted new laws to help private companies use the number, and continues to push for it. The whole series of events has been disastrous, and India does not even have any data privacy laws.
dijksterhuis 6y ago
> Introduce a digital ID and instantly it’ll become a requirement to give your digital ID to do anything at all - register a mobile phone, a bank account, an online shop, a library, a pub ... anything Sighs. 4/5 of these examples already require proof of identity in various circumstances. The required identification often comes in the form of either one or a combination of a recent utility bill + driver's license and/or passport. This can make moving house (as an example) a massive PITA -- now I need 3 documents instead of one. -- On data storage / privacy. Pubs/bars/clubs have already trialled schemes where the provided Photo ID is stored for a certain amount of time. (I believe fabric had to do this under the terms of their new license). I've not heard of any breaches yet...? I doubt a digital ID would be very useful in pubs as it can't be linked back to a biometric feature (your pretty face). Online shops... Meh. Does it really matter if Tesco's knows that I prefer low fat mince to high fat? Banks, well.... There's not much hope there. They'll use it and the game will change. C'est la vie. I'll either adapt so I can get a mortgage or I'll continue renting. Edit: on a even deeper level, the reality is that nothing changes. Everyone has some form of UID for me (usually emails). Now it just becomes a standardised identifier across the board. __ I too have low confidence in the current government's ability to do something useful with it.

wtmt 6y ago

> Ignoring my main concern that any digital project led by the current government will no doubt fail and be used as another excuse to funnel billions to "friends" (not alarmist, but fact), as someone else comments: > "It’s not just about government. Introduce a digital ID and instantly it’ll become a requirement to give your digital ID to do anything at all - register a mobile phone, a bank account, an online shop, a library, a pub ... anything. Thus, as the article says, your whole life can be linked together and surveilled, not only by government but by dozens of unaccountable corporations." This is exactly what happened in India with its biometric resident ID number, where the executive coerced people to link it with phone numbers, bank accounts and many other institutions (including giving it in schools and colleges), until the lethargic Supreme Court reduced its validity to government funded schemes alone (despite it causing starvation deaths and exclusions of people from their entitlements). Not to be outdone, the government enacted new laws to help private companies use the number, and continues to push for it. The whole series of events has been disastrous, and India does not even have any data privacy laws.

dijksterhuis 6y ago

> Introduce a digital ID and instantly it’ll become a requirement to give your digital ID to do anything at all - register a mobile phone, a bank account, an online shop, a library, a pub ... anything Sighs. 4/5 of these examples already require proof of identity in various circumstances. The required identification often comes in the form of either one or a combination of a recent utility bill + driver's license and/or passport. This can make moving house (as an example) a massive PITA -- now I need 3 documents instead of one. -- On data storage / privacy. Pubs/bars/clubs have already trialled schemes where the provided Photo ID is stored for a certain amount of time. (I believe fabric had to do this under the terms of their new license). I've not heard of any breaches yet...? I doubt a digital ID would be very useful in pubs as it can't be linked back to a biometric feature (your pretty face). Online shops... Meh. Does it really matter if Tesco's knows that I prefer low fat mince to high fat? Banks, well.... There's not much hope there. They'll use it and the game will change. C'est la vie. I'll either adapt so I can get a mortgage or I'll continue renting. Edit: on a even deeper level, the reality is that nothing changes. Everyone has some form of UID for me (usually emails). Now it just becomes a standardised identifier across the board. __ I too have low confidence in the current government's ability to do something useful with it.