Digital ID: ORG warns of mission creep

On Monday December 8, MPs will debate the introduction of a national digital ID card. The debate has been instigated by a UK parliament petition that has almost 3 million signatures.

In advance of the debate, Sara Chitseko, Pre-Crime Programme Manager at Open Rights Group said:

“Despite political and public opposition, the government is embarking on a digital surveillance infrastructure that could fundamentally change how we live. Once a national digital ID system is in place, mission creep is inevitable, forcing people to use it more and more in everyday life and opening the door to unprecedented tracking of our interactions with the State.

“Public trust in this scheme has been further undermined by misleading messages over how digital ID will be used.”

New research shows harms of digital ID for migrants.

Migrants in the UK are already subjected to an extensive digital ID regime through the eVisa scheme, which has been be-set with problems from the outset. Migrants have been unable to prove their right to be in the UK as a result of data errors, glitches and Internet outages. These failings have led to people being prevented from travelling, having job offers and mortgages withdrawn, and even being made homeless. New research based on indepth interviews with over 40 migrants, finds that digitalisation has left migrants stressed, confused and fearful. In addition, those with limited digital literacy, language barriers, disabilities or a lack of access to the internet experience have experience more harms and exclusion.

Chitseko added:

“The claim that digital ID is needed to enforce immigration policy is simply false: migrants in the UK are already subjected to an extensive digital ID regime through the eVisa system, and their experiences should serve as a warning. Data errors, glitches and outages have repeatedly left people unable to prove their right to be in the UK—stripping individuals of dignity and basic rights.

“No one should be exposed to a system this fragile. Instead of scaling up these harms and spending £1.8 billion on a population-wide surveillance scheme, the government should be fixing the problems we already have.”

NGOs issue joint warning

13 NGOs have issued a joint briefing outlining their concerns with the government’s proposals. These include the potential for mission creep, privacy and security risks, and discrimination and exclusion.