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Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

reuters.com

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Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#521

Post by foldr »

hayd wrote: post #515
foldr wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't be misled by the reaction on HN. The general concept of a national ID card is not unpopular in the UK: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/support-for-th... IMO this is a gimmick and probably won't have much effect either for good or bad. I would vote against it given the chance. But there aren't that many British people who feel especially strongly about this.

> I would vote against it given the chance. Unfortunately the British people are rarely given a chance to vote and even more rarely listened to.

In the last 10 years the UK has had 4 general elections and the Brexit referendum. Some countries have more local democracy (e.g. direct elections of DAs in the US), but in terms of opportunities to change the national government or influence national policy, I don't think the UK is doing too badly.

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#522

Post by puppycodes »

aftergibson wrote: post #189

A secure, optional digital ID could be useful. But not in today’s UK. Why? Because the state has already shown it can’t be trusted with our data. - Snoopers’ Charter (Investigatory Powers Act 2016): ISPs must keep a year’s worth of records of which websites you visit. More than 40 agencies—from MI5 to the Welsh Ambulance Service—can request it. MI5 has already broken the rules and kept data it shouldn’t have. - Encry…

Once its there it will almost certainly never be rolled back.

Freedom is incompatible with the UK.

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#523

Post by kypro »

paxys wrote: post #509
randerson wrote: post #466

[flagged]

Inability to work is going to be a far bigger deterrance to illegal immigration than any kind of border control you can put up. Regardless of all the propaganda immigrants aren't coming into the country in droves to bum around, commit crimes and get free services from the government. They want to be able to work and live a normal life. If you deny them that, they will look elsewhere.

[flagged]

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#524

Post by paxys »

reactordev wrote: post #270
matt-p wrote: post #266

So I currently have; A National Insurance Card (needed to get a job), drivers license and passport, one of latter is also needed (in practice) to get a job. Why would a brit card help us reduce the number of people working illegally? The only notable 'employers' of illegal workers in the UK are American tech firms Uber and deliveroo (doordash) because they allow driver substitution without verifying that the substitu…

It has nothing to do with cards and everything to do with data.

What new data does another ID card give the government?

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#526

Post by crazygringo »

ghusto wrote: post #393
gargan wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the opposite of what you say. Proportional representation isn't accountable because you don't know what coalition you're voting for - coalitions are done in backrooms after the election. Winner takes all is more accountable because the coalitions are done before the election (aka political parties). Parties are made up of different factions and they're agreed before the election.

I think he's right, actually. It rings true with what we see here in the Netherlands. People don't feel like they're "throwing their vote away" if they vote for a minor party, so politicians can't have a laid back attitude.

If their minor party doesn't end up as part of the governing coalition, there's no sense in which people feel like their vote wound up having no effect?

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#527

Post by shoobiedoo »

hnlmorg wrote: post #507
randerson wrote: post #466

[flagged]

> Isn't a larger issue the number of immigrants who are NOT contributing to the economy, The bigger issue is people not contributing to the economy. Let’s not peg laziness as an immigration problem because British people are equally lazy. > The other complaint I often see is immigrants' failure to assimilate to British norms, language, and culture. If we forced people to conform to British norms then we wouldn’t enjo…

Holy mother of [citation needed]. "Brits are just as lazy! Brits never conform when abroad! But it's YOU not showing facts!"

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#528

Post by kypro »

octo888 wrote: post #107
mrob wrote: post #89

It's incredibly misleading to call a phone app a "card". This is much worse than it sounds. Am I going to be forced to buy a smartphone? Am I going to be forced to run non-Free software? Am I going to be forced to enter into a restrictive contract with a foreign corporation?

Hah this is the UK. No, it'll be optional to begin with to make people like you asking important questions seem like a whacko. Then once they use propaganda to make people opt into it, and it reaches mass adoption, then it'll quietly be made mandatory - or extremely annoying not to have it

Yep. It's literally always this way. It's starts with "we hope everyone will do the right thing". To, "it's concerning some people are refusing to do their part". To finally, "do it now or we'll lock you in a cage".

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#529

Post by astroflection »

somelamer567 wrote: post #329
pipes wrote: post #281

I genuinely think the next move will be using it as part of their age verification check. I am guessing they want it to be your online id. No more anonymous internet usage. It is really grim what is happening to the UK. For the most part no one gives a shit. And if you do, you are automatically branded as "right wing".

> No more anonymous internet usage And given the torrent of inauthentic "right wing" commentators nudging public opinion on the BBC's Have Your Say, the Daily Mail and Reddit, I'm not entirely sure this will be a bad thing. Recall that Iran cut off the internet for university exams, and the volume of posting by Scottish pro-independence accounts on Twitter/X dropped 98%. Food for thought.

Correlation is not causation.

Re: Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

#530

Post by crazygringo »

array_key_first wrote: post #450
NicuCalcea wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just imagine that a policeman, employer or anybody else with access to the information linked to the ID can instantly view our medical records, tax status and even simpler things like if we've ever been caught driving while drunk Why would I imagine that? There are privacy implications, but a unique ID doesn't mean everyone has access to all your data at any time for any reason.

All it takes is one breach or vulnerability and then yes, they DO have access to all your data. Imagine someone steals your driver's license. No biggie. Now imagine they steal your identity which is linked to everything you ever do.

> All it takes is one breach or vulnerability and then yes, they DO have access to all your data.

No they don't. If they breach the health system, they don't have access to tax returns.

Just because people are identified by a single ID number doesn't mean all their data is being stored on the same server. And for purely organizational reasons, that's incredibly unlikely to happen.

And I don't know what you mean by "steal your identity". People's names are date of birth are generally a pretty unique identifier already. It doesn't really matter if systems use that or a single ID number to identify you, or if hackers look you up by your name.

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