Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

> Stored on mobile phones, the ID would contain details including a name, date of birth, residency status and crucially a photo - which would distinguish it from National Insurance numbers.

Surely it will be possible to also store it on some government-issued, GCHQ-vetted digital device, and not rely on foreign companies (Google/Apple) and their locked-down mobile platforms?

They've already said you won't need a mobile phone. They mention phones as a deliberate distraction from the fact that they will be building a huge central database.

I will be very surprised if the app does much more than dish up a pre-signed chunk of ID data, much like an e-passport does now. It won't actually need a secure device.

(Which isn't to say they will support anything except android and iphone.)

Is there any particular reason why a UK central identity database is bad, while the French and Spanish central identity databases aren't a problem?

They have said it will work for people who "aren’t able to use a smartphone". Nothing is said about people who are able but unwilling. I can only assume I will forced to submit to the terms and conditions of a foreign corporation, and forced to use non-Free software.

This is the most alarming aspect of the proposal to me. I find it wild that the government will require me, by law, to buy an expensive electronic device I don't want or otherwise need, in order to be employed. It's absolutely amazing to me that the government is forcing me to spend money in this way.

My government requires me, by law, to send it tens of thousands of dollars every year, much of it to be spent on things I don't want or need, in order to stay out of prison.

Requiring me to spend another $100 or so on a phone seems like pretty small potatoes, compared to what they intend to use the device for. I'm not saying I'd like it, but it's a detail, not the main issue.

> My government requires me, by law, to send it tens of thousands of dollars every year

That's only because you have those tens of thousands to give it. The same will not generally be true for people who have nothing.

It's not so much the money but rather being forced to do business with a company I do not want to do business with. If this were an optional activity, like driving a car and being forced to do business with an insurance company, that's one thing. But this will be a forced commercial interaction simply to be employed in the UK. That's a very novel abuse of power.

This is the crazy part to me. I want nothing to do with the iPhone/Android duopoly and I do not participate in it, at the cost of some personal convenience from time to time. If my own country were to implement this I’d honestly just tell them to stick me in jail. I can be a test case, why not? You have to draw the line somewhere.

It really is mad.

Whenever you hear someone say, "everyone has a phone these days", you must push back against that. It might seem like it to them but it's just not true. I've always chosen to point out that it isn't true because I was worried that one day, it would be become a legal requirement to own one. It seems that day has arrived, in the UK at least.

I'm a little in disbelief that I will soon be legally required to own one of these things.

There will be a physical card for time travellers from 1999 and elderly relatives

Hopefully there will be. That will be a good solution for people like me, who want to live uncomplicated lives in peace.

There's a gov.uk wallet app and digital service in beta already. I don't think it does very much yet.

https://www.gov.uk/wallet

It's backed by gov.uk one login, which is already a database that contains a fair chunk of the populations' details.

To me, it feels like the digital id is more a case of joining existing things together than creating something brand new from scratch.