Live data from Hacker News

Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

reuters.com

201–210 of 809 posts

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#201

Before the election I was approached by a bubbly young woman who tried to persuade me to vote Labour: "No thanks, last time I did that they tried to introduce ID cards", "But that's not in our manifesto" she replied, "It wasn't the last time I voted for them either". It gives me no pleasure to be right on this.

Could you explain what it is you find so distasteful about ID cards? I mean if you have a passport then you already have an 'ID card', but I certainly don't want to take that out with me to prove my age.

It all depends on exactly when they're mandatory and what tracking is associated with them.

My own personal thinking has evolved on the subject since I campaigned against ID cards under Blair ("no2id"). It is a question of trust and purpose. Things like the Estonian digital identity scheme do not seem to be bad in practice. The problem comes from identity checkpoints, which serve as an opportunity for inconvenience, surveillance, and negligence by the authorities.

Remember the "computer is never wrong" Fujitsu scandal? The Windrush fiasco (itself a story of identity and records)?

And anything born of an immigration crackdown is coming out of the gate with a declared intention to be paranoid and authoritarian.

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please give me your real name "celticninja", your phone number, your address, your NI number -- oh, and you'll need to install this app on your phone which I promise will never be used to monitor your location, purchases, friends. Then I'll explain.

Also, please authenticate with your digital ID before posting on social media.

And we never heard from then again. Case in point of how someone likes something in theory but in practice it's distasteful.

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#204

Before the election I was approached by a bubbly young woman who tried to persuade me to vote Labour: "No thanks, last time I did that they tried to introduce ID cards", "But that's not in our manifesto" she replied, "It wasn't the last time I voted for them either". It gives me no pleasure to be right on this.

Could you explain what it is you find so distasteful about ID cards? I mean if you have a passport then you already have an 'ID card', but I certainly don't want to take that out with me to prove my age.

> to prove my age

If you want to prove your age, there are a host of *voluntary* forms of identity you can carry if you wish to do so. Please tell me how a new *compulsory* scheme (with privacy invading overreach) is going to help you.

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please give me your real name "celticninja", your phone number, your address, your NI number -- oh, and you'll need to install this app on your phone which I promise will never be used to monitor your location, purchases, friends. Then I'll explain.

Reductio ad absurdum.

Not really. British governments have always been increasingly authoritarian.

The stated reason is to stop illegals working.

Unfortunately we have an ID for working, called a national insurance number. We literally can't get legally paid without it.

So a National ID card ... Is irrelevant. You still need this number for benefits, etc.

I've got an NI number, a driving license and a passport. Not to mention a NHS number.

I don't need another form of identification to link together everything about me so my government can leak everywhere.

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What it will combat is illegal immigrants ability to work. No. That's a rubbish claim by the government. Employers must already check right to work and it is straightforward. Penalties are unlimited fines and jail, with penalties of 40k+ dished out on the first offence.

Most of the work done by illegal immigrants is for things like Deliveroo/Uber Eats, where an account is shared: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj615p5y5kko

So they can just share a digital ID as well, right?

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#207
"Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said ID cards were not in the party's election manifesto and added: "That’s not our approach.""

– July 2024

"Asked about the possibility of introducing digital ID cards, Mr Reynolds [then Secretary of State for Business and Trade, now Chief Whip] told Times Radio: "We can rule that out, that's not something that's part of our plans.""

– July 2024

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c87rgj4e0rzo

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#208

This is a plan so we shall see what happens... This is widely unpopular because the idea of ID cards is unpopular in general in the UK and the people also clearly understand that the argument that this would combat illegal immigration is total rubbish. Even the comments on The Guardian's website are overwhelmingly negative, which should really tell the government something. The proposal is also drastic because it wou…

Id cards are not unpopular with the general public. That's just what the daily mail wants you to think. https://bsky.app/profile/samfr.bsky.social/post/3lzq2w3ovgk2...

[deleted]

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#210
post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reductio ad absurdum.

Not really. British governments have always been increasingly authoritarian. The stated reason is to stop illegals working. Unfortunately we have an ID for working, called a national insurance number. We literally can't get legally paid without it. So a National ID card ... Is irrelevant. You still need this number for benefits, etc. I've got an NI number, a driving license and a passport. Not to mention a NHS number…

NI is not ID for working. It's a tax identifier.

The ID for working system is https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work , with its digital ID "share code" https://www.gov.uk/view-right-to-work

(what does the digital ID scheme add to this again?)

Post reply on HN