- A petition to scrape the plan for mandatory digital ID cards have already reached over a million signatures in just one day
- Critics warn against the risk of mass surveillance and digital control
- This repeated the privacy and security of civilians and other politicians
A staggering number of Britons asks the government to refrain from introducing mandatory digital ID cards.
Over a million Britons have already signed a petition asking to cancel the plan in just one day, with the number of signatures growing every minute.
Speaking from a conference in London Friday (September 26), British Prime Minister Keir Stormer confirmed that the Digital ID scheme will help fight illegal immigration. The scheme also promises to make it easier for citizens to use important public services.
This means that unlike other countries that have already rolled some forms of digital ID, every adult in the UK must have the so-called “Brit card” to prove that they have the right to live and work in the country.
“We think this would be a step towards mass surveillance and digital control, and that no one should be forced to register with a state-controlled ID system,” the petition reads, pointing out that “ID cards were scraped in 2010, in our view for good reason.”
The feeling of the public repeated the concerns that came from civil society and political ranks. Lawyers at Big Brother Watch, already considered digital ID as “Big Brother in Your Pocket” back in January when the first draft of the scheme was revealed.
Can Brit Cards be private and safe?
The system, the government explained, uses “advanced encryption and approval technology” to keep data private and secure.
However, these details do not appear to be enough to convince critics.
According to Silkie Carlo, director of UK-Based Privacy’s lawyer Group Big Brother Watch, digital IDs do nothing to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the UK. But they would rather make Britain less free and safe.
“Incredibly sensitive information about each of us would be stored by the state and vulnerable to cyber attacks,” Carlo wrote.
After all, the British public system has a bad track record to keep people’s data secure. Last March, a ransomware gang hacked into the NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s digital database and stole 3TB with identifying information belonging to both staff and patients.
Then there is the Online Security Act that experts warn could still pose a threat to strong encryption.
Labor’s plan for mandatory digital ID risk of creating a more authoritarian state. Under constant surveillance, we would have to pass through digital control points just to live our daily lives – with even more barriers to minorities, migrants and the digitally excluded. Tony …25 September 2025
Nor does the Brit short scheme convinces the political world.
Former Labor MP Zarah Sultana considered mandatory digital ID as “digital control points”, which would lead to the British living their daily lives in “constant surveillance.”
Similarly, the head of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, said he is “firmly opposite” to the proposal and argues that “it will make no difference to illegal immigration, but it will be used to control and punish the rest of us.”
Critical voices even come from Stormmer’s party, where Nadia Whittome noticed the plan as “dividing, authoritarian nonsense.”
What is the next?
Parliament must be nominated to consider the petition for debate now that it is received more than 100,000 signatures. So we have to wait and see what the answer will be.
Stormer remains convinced that the plan would help crack down on illegal work and promote the country’s digitization and describe digital ID as “a huge opportunity for Britain.”
The government is now ready to “listen to a number of views on how the service will be delivered” as part of a public consultation later this year.
If successful, the United Kingdom will join a few European nations that have already rolled out their own iteration under EU Digital Identity Wallet Scheme. With a big difference: the British will be forced to participate, whether they want it or not.
