From repealed ID cards to a digital comeback

A familiar fight has returned to British politics under a new name. After Parliament scrapped physical ID cards in 2010, ministers are now advancing a digital identity system through policy, procurement, and legislation. Supporters call it modern and “convenient.” Civil liberties groups and many MPs hear something else: the drumbeat of a permission-based society. The United Kingdom’s ongoing rollout of a “One Login for Government” account, paired with reforms in the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDI Bill), has revived the core question the country settled once already—should the state build a single identity architecture that citizens must use to live their lives?

This is not a narrow tech debate. It is a constitutional one. In a free country, people move, speak, and transact without asking for clearance. A national digital ID flips that instinct. It creates an all-purpose gatekeeper, turning routine life into a sequence of checkpoints. That is why the resistance cuts across party lines and why the details matter.

Dangers of Digital ID

During Commons and Lords debates on the DPDI Bill in 2023–2024, MPs raised concerns about digital identity verification powers and data sharing in Westminster. At the same time, the Government Digital Service began rolling out “GOV.UK One Login,” a single sign-in and identity verification service for public services across the UK.

Britain has been here. The 2006 Identity Cards Act proposed a centralized biometric database. It died in 2010, after being repealed by the Coalition on civil-liberties grounds. The case against it—function creep, surveillance risk, and the creation of a “database state”—did not vanish with plastic cards. It moved into code.

Today’s version comes as a digital infrastructure. The DPDI Bill establishes a legal framework for “digital verification services.” The government’s One Login project aims to provide a single identity for accessing tax, benefits, visas, and more. Officials say it is voluntary and will improve access.

But centralization changes power. Once identity becomes a universal token for public life, it invites expansion into private life—banks, landlords, employers—through policy, regulation, or commercial pressure. That is how mission creep works: the use cases quietly multiply until opting out becomes impractical.

Digital ID systems make tracking cheap, fast, and silent. Even if policymakers claim they will not turn the system into a tool of surveillance, architecture is destiny. A single identifier, strong authentication, and central logs combine to produce high-resolution trails. Linking those trails across services gives the state and its partners a panoramic view of people’s lives.

Share with a friend:

Visited 3 times, 3 visit(s) today

Carl Riedel

Carl Riedel is an experienced writer and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) specialist, known for insightful articles that illuminate underreported issues. Passionate about free speech, he expertly transforms public data into compelling narratives, influencing public discourse.