The UK is planning to launch a digital ID app called ‘GOV.UK Wallet’ by the end of 2025.
At the same time, the Labour government is currently considering a proposed mandatory, universal digital identity system, called the BritCard, advocated by the think tank Labour Together.
The Britcard will be a free digital credential stored on a smartphone via the GOV.UK Wallet app, designed to verify an individual’s right to live, work and rent in the UK.
This is a digital prison. Those who comply risk not only their own autonomy but also the future freedom of their children and grandchildren. Future generations may never know what it means to live outside constant surveillance.
By Mairi Allan, as published by Declaration of Dumfries
Currently in the UK, a Wallet and Digital ID App – a mobile app called “GOV.UK Wallet” – is set to launch at the end of 2025 (for both Android and iOS).
It allows users to store government-issued documents, like veteran cards and digital driver’s licences. By 2027, all UK government services issuing physical credentials must offer a digital alternative. This Labour government is considering a mandatory or widely used digital ID card (“BritCard”), but there is no official rollout timeline yet.
The GOV.UK Wallet has already begun phased deployment with public sector bodies, which started in May 2024 and a broader rollout is expected through 2025.
Some of you may have experienced situations when they have collected your data digitally – if you bought a new car on finance or applied for a new job in the last year or two. It’s time-consuming and often tricky but once they’ve got your data, that’s it. The card would be linked to government records and could be checked by employers or landlords.
Eventually serving as a one-stop shop for a range of government services whilst also holding information and records on you – such as claiming benefits, ordering passports, storing your medical records, your vaccination status, carbon credit scores, etc. The list will be endless. It could have any police records, your social media activity, any arrests or cautions or even “hurty words” you may have written on Facebook – all logged on there for future employers to see!
Critics warn that a decades-long project to centralise identity could lock humanity into a permission-based digital system.
For some, the rise of digital identification systems represents progress – a step toward convenience, efficiency and security in an increasingly online world. But for a growing number of critics, digital ID is not a neutral tool. It is, they argue, the culmination of a control grid that has been quietly under construction for decades.
Now, with governments and international bodies accelerating plans for digital IDs, critics insist that the final piece of a long-planned surveillance framework is falling into place.
Digital ID is not about convenience or modernisation; it is the linchpin of a system designed to monitor, restrict and ultimately control every aspect of our lives.
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