Just today Switzerland said YES to E-ID https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/votes/202509...
50.39% yes. Wow, that's the closest I've seen here.
With a mere 49.55% turnout.
UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
151–160 of 373 posts
Re: UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
#152Digital IDs are a solution. What are the clear problems statements? How can you show that Digital ID solves them? What problems do they also introduce?
Re: UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
#153As well as the Estonia eID system works (aside from that time it got hacked[0] and that other time they leaked all the photos[1]) and how well a digital (non-government) system works in Scandinavia… I have to say… 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 belie…
Our system in Estonia works well. I don't get the resistance to a digital/national id in other countries. To us it is quite bizarre. Some have explained it with a lack of trust between citizens and the country. But without such digital id it is impossible to have such digital government services as we have here. The government services need to verify and autheticate the citizen, so they only access their own data and…
You don't get the resistance?
Imagine a Russia-friendly party getting elected. Doesn't have to be overtly pro-russian. Can be someone very nationalist like Marine Le Pen in France. Or socialist like Sarah Wagenknecht in Germany. Just someone with financially dependent on Russia, or simply owing them favour. Now imagine them accidentally leaving some loophole in the system, such that Russians get read or maybe even write access to data.
Re: UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder how much you're loading into "simply practicing free speech".
It is a criminal offense in the UK to use insulting words in public, or to send any message online that anyone could find insulting or offensive (whether any one does or not is irreverent). The Online Safety Act and Hate Crime Provision have extended these somewhat into the realms of 1984. But the police do tend to use them sparingly.
*irrelevant, not irreverent. ffs. (meaning people can be charged with a crime and only a fictional 'reasonable' person suffering offense or insult)
Re: UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
Our system in Estonia works well. I don't get the resistance to a digital/national id in other countries. To us it is quite bizarre. Some have explained it with a lack of trust between citizens and the country. But without such digital id it is impossible to have such digital government services as we have here. The government services need to verify and autheticate the citizen, so they only access their own data and…
I'm somewhat indifferent to the concept of a Digital ID. The problem is that the UK government's reason for introducing it doesn't make sense - to 'solve' illegal workers, when the UK already has a (digital) system for proving right to work https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work/get-a-share-code-onli...
I'm somewhat indifferent to the concept of a Digital ID. The problem is that the UK government's reason for introducing it doesn't make sense - to 'solve' illegal workers, when the UK already has a (digital) system for proving right to work
I saw some British politicians discussing this on Sky last week, and I really don't see the point of the British digital ID.
They say having yet another new ID number will make things "easier." But didn't really say how. Brits already have ID numbers for lots of things. It wasn't spelled out how having yet another number will make things better.
My tech mind tells me that it's just going to save some DB admins from having to JOIN some columns. But a number is a number. Why yet another number?
And the whole thing about having a number will somehow stop people from working illegally seems like a red herring. I believe Brits already have to have a national insurance number in order to work. That hasn't stopped people from working illegally. They talking heads didn't explain what's so magical about this new number that will suddenly do things that the old number or numbers didn't.
/Not a Brit. Just bewildered by what appears to be a solution in search of a problem.
Re: UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
#156I don't understand the problem. How is this different from all other identifiers, physical or digital, that most goverments already have?
The likelihood that it will become tied to your bank account, credit file, etc in a way which isn't currently possible with physical forms of id such as passports and driving licences.
I’m pretty sure UK security services can link bank accounts to you already. Hell, credit score companies like Experian already do it.
This is beneficial for public services and companies that need to identify you. Having a single ID for a person is a huge improvement. As an example, when we got married, my wife was simultaneously both her maiden name and my surname. There is absolutely no link between passport, birth certificate, driving license, etc.
You have to go around to all these different organisations and have them update the details. They all have different requirements for updating the name.
Having a single consistent mechanism for referring to a person in systems seems hugely beneficial for both the organisation and the person.
Re: UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
#157Kier Starmer seems to have no idea how he's coming across. Everything he does just makes him look more authoritarian. He's doing this right after passing that "online safety" bill. It's remarkable that the only time he got his act together was in sending anti government rioters to prison in record time. Which only goes to show what he can do when he wants. The palestine action thing is another one. They embarrassed him so now they are being arrested in their hundreds. It's really not a great look for him at all. But he seems blithley unaware of this. I imagine he's confused because his entire social group of enlightened progressive elites tell him he's amazing and he doesn't understand what the plebian class are complaining about.
Re: UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
The UK government has justified this with reducing the amount of illegal workers. To work legally currently you need an NI number, this is not an improvement on that system other than requiring everyone to have a phone (probably with safetynet checks to ensure it can't be running a custom rom). I personally do not trust the government one little bit and am sure they'll find some way to abuse this, as they have just a…
>given their recent penchant for arresting protesters? A protest group attacked a military base causing £millions of damage. They got censured, as a terrorist organisation. "Protestors" decided they wanted to support that specific organisation, taking focus away from their message and chasing after something the government simply can't countenance: allowing protestors to ruin our defensive capabilities, at immense ex…
It's messed up that they wasted millions of pounds that should have been sent to israel instead. If they were really serious about their cause, they should have protested in a manner that is convenient for me and totally harmless
Re: UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like a red-herring. Does a government need a digital ID to do that? Many do that with the "free market" of publicly-tradable information + pre-existing government IDs already used for certain things. I don't know for sure how much the UK government is purchasing all that, but there's a lot of cameras and tech tracking in the country already, like those of us across the pond also are watched with. It won't rever…
Yes, governments do need a centralized common identity if they intend to build something like a social credit system. Those without adequate experience dealing with the US system, for instance, may assume that the government already has your info and thus such a system is redundant. However, this is simply not the case. US government systems are a hodgepodge of different systems built by different vendors, over diffe…
US government systems are a hodgepodge of different systems built by different vendors, over different computing eras, many of which lack a primary key relationship with something like your social security number (the current “default” identifier).
This is a feature, not a bug.
Even though we're only at the very beginning of the various U.S. systems being merged, we're already seeing it being abused.
(One example: States using license plate reader data to prosecute women for getting abortions in other jurisdictions.)
Re: UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
#160After seeing NUMEROUS video of UK police showing up at doorsteps like the gestapo, arresting or citing or intimidating people who are simply practicing free speech, I don’t think anyone should support the government with a pathway to de-anonymize the web. Even if you support the current government, such powers will be used against you at some point.
What is actually going on with that? It feels like over the last 2 years the British police have decided to see what it's like being the stasi. Most of the msm are faithfully avoiding mentioning how authoritarian the police have become. The odd thing is they are not even necessarily propping up a political regime, although again it feels like they are getting some of their instructions directly from kier starmers mind, but they are arresting people for being mean on twitter. It's really odd and no matter what side of the political divide you are on you should be disturbed.