> 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 "friend

> 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.