First People
To get a Digital ID should be all the ministers and contractors that work on the Digital ID system so we know exactly who there are. If they won't take their own medicine, I ain't touching it.
UK digital ID goes in-house, government swears it isn't an ID card
The UK government has revealed some thinking about digital identity in response to written questions from MPs, while continuing to say next to nothing about the scheme's cost. On January 12, Conservative MP Sir David Davis, who as shadow home secretary from 2003 to 2008 led opposition to the last Labour government's identity …
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 06:28 GMT Pickle Rick
Re: First People
Hmmm, if I may, perhaps you're
being too kindmissing a larger educational opportunity...Swap the breadboard for veroboard, but watch out for those sharp edges, especially the burrs on the copper strips, safety first! And a mutlicell lemon battery could be used with zinc nails and copper screws for the anodes/cathodes respectively. Don't get that lemon juice in any little cuts you may have...
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Monday 26th January 2026 16:07 GMT Pickle Rick
Re: First People
I'm never going to contend that point. My view is the pilot would never start, as the system would have to be working first. And even if it did launch it'd never complete, with a reset on every major update. But mainly TPTB would never commit to being the guinea pigs, kinda my point. That said, your approach is safer, as it doesn't encourage the bastards to try.
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 07:52 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: First People
Perhaps due to the Common Travel Area - and special full rights for Irish/British to live, work and claim Government Benefits in each others Countries (do the Fascists in Reform know about this !!) why not buddy up with Ireland who are several years down this path … and may appreciate some more funding.
They seem to have similar Government v’s Citizen objectives inc social media bans etc.
Due to go to pilot imminently, and should be compatible with the EUDigital Wallet standard ….
https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2025/12/06/new-digital-wallet-to-be-tested-within-months-to-restrict-social-media-access-in-ireland-for-under-16s/
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Monday 26th January 2026 15:19 GMT Tron
Re: Reads like…
It will have other purposes than ID;
Any services that don't use it will be blocked by UK ISPs. So a large chunk of the internet will vanish to UK users.
It's all about state control of the net and citizens. No different from China.
We need to get a Reform promise to abolish it. Preferably carved in stone and signed in blood, as no politicians are remotely trustworthy.
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 00:15 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Reads like…
ID cards can't and won't ever be able to do that. Even that arsehole Starmer admits this. Sorry to burst your delusional bubble.
Try to think about it for a nanosecond. Do you honestly believe wannabe undocumented immigrants will say to themselves "Better stay where i am. England has Starmercards now. I won't get let in without one."?
As for Reform and its supporters, the less said the better.
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 16:43 GMT Jamie Jones
Re: Reads like…
Well, it certainly worked when Jenrick got the murals at the children immigration centre painted over. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66132158
No more immigrants after that!
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Monday 26th January 2026 16:57 GMT Elongated Muskrat
Re: Reads like…
Yeah, because a bunch of the worst the Tory party had to offer, rebranded, stuffed into a "party" that is a private company, led by a man who is so obviously a charlatan, that Donald Trump himself is now embarrassed to associate with him, is definitely going to not completely shaft every single man, woman, and child in the country.
Let's not even get into the state of the local councils that they have tricked their way into leading, once you get past the in-fighting, and suspiciously large number of criminal records.
Labour are a complete bunch of useless bastards under Keir Starmer, but if your solution is to elect the absolute worst that humanity has to offer in the hope that they'll be better, then you need to stop drinking leaded petrol.
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Monday 26th January 2026 10:14 GMT Pascal Monett
It's not an ID card
But that's how it's going to be used.
And it'll cost more than £2 billion to implement, but not to worry, Palantir will not be involved, although "specialist" consultants might (will) be called on.
The ID card has been a long fight in the UK. It's frankly hilarious (from the outside) how evident it is that the population does not want it, but somehow as soon as someone gets elected, then it is a necessity.
I can't help but wonder who's cousin's brother-in-law is going to get his snought in that trough, because the pickings are looking to be quite fat indeed. A digital ID card and you need billions to set it up ? A few million should be largely enough, with a focused group of experienced people in charge and no bullshit Royalty-decorated nincompoops messing things up - oh wait, they said in-house.
Right, so that's another boondoggle that's going to waste money for nothing.
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Monday 26th January 2026 10:46 GMT Like a badger
Re: It's not an ID card
I must say I side with many of our European counterparts here, in asking why we as a nation are so against the idea of a single identity system.
It is already the case that some form of identity proof is needed for most transactions (other than cash) and registrations or entitlements, whether public or private. Several other European nations already have excellent digital ID systems that act as such proof, and aren't abused into a form of ID that must be carried. But Blighty staggers on under the burden of exceptionalism, all this "I didn't fight in two world wars..." shit, "you can't trust those lot in Whitehall", and as a result we continue to operate expensive, duplicative, fragmented and overlapping ID systems, each valid in differing circumstances, and as a result of the gaping holes in these systems we have seen £11 billion stolen through Covid loan fraud, we have rampant tax dodging, Companies House have thousands of bogus front companies registered by f*** knows who, umpteen services are validated by the laughable "proof" of a utility bill, we have dual passport criminals fleeing justice to their home country and then not being caught when they return to repeat their offending, proof of identity and right to work remains a burden that reputable employers struggle with, and disreputable ones ignore. In a world that's rapidly destabilising, there's also the potential for circumstances where the UK might actually need to have a system that could pivot to being an ID card for the duration of hostilities.
I'm sure this comment will be very heavily voted down, but we are already numbers on multiple government identification databases, and it's pretty sad that in a tech forum like this people remain so enthusiastic for fragmentation, overlap, higher costs, error and inaccuracy.
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Monday 26th January 2026 11:01 GMT Andy The Hat
Re: It's not an ID card
I don't believe the economics of the situation are the problem per-se as there could be significant benefits to a single id (been there and have several t-shirts) but what is a problem, perceived or actual, is the misuse of the data by the state or "threat actors" either intentionally or due to complete incompetence of the Government. If I lose my driving license it's cancelled and I get another one, if my entire digital persona is compromised what happens then? Who am I? How do I prove my id when my entire ID is invalid and can be recreated in minutes by someone on the web to buy aubergines from Sainsbury's?
On top of that, perhaps "Simons did not rule out the scheme being required to sign into social media accounts" could actually mean all access to the internet has to be logged via digital ID as a "age verification" to "protect the kids". That may not be misused by this Government, they are probably too incompetent to do so, but what if a Trump-esque figure takes over and wants to track journalists or political opponents or Jews ...? The digital ID is not only who you are but also where and when you are - that is dangerous.
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Monday 26th January 2026 11:18 GMT elsergiovolador
Re: It's not an ID card
People often equate digital ID with plastic ID that you can keep in the drawer and it doesn't know where you are or what you talk about.
Digital ID living in everyone's phone is one update away from tracking the whole population of the country, combined with metadata is like creating a candy store for a deranged dictator that will inevitably be elected one day.
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Monday 26th January 2026 11:40 GMT Like a badger
Re: It's not an ID card
Digital ID living in everyone's phone is one update away from tracking the whole population of the country
Except this already goes on - and you know full well that it does: Investigatory Powers Act etc, plus telecoms data retention. In that respect digital ID makes little difference, other than that WE need all these different numbers and credentials to prove our ID for anything from spending fifteen quid on a replacement car numberplate, to get advice from a lawyer, to make pretty modest financial transactions, to file a tax return, establish pension entitlement, register with a GP etc etc. For government, multiple identities merely creates a little bit more detective work that they aren't paying for.
combined with metadata is like creating a candy store for a deranged dictator that will inevitably be elected one day.
As above, already happening. Think Starmer's social media thought police, selective sentencing, the current Westminster policing power grab, requiring Apple (and without doubt all other big tech) to offer backdoor access to data they hold? Fighting against a modern digital ID system on the basis that "government might abuse their powers" ignores the fact that they already have these powers (passed by Tory scum, deployed by Labour scum), and that government have the resources that multiple identities doesn't impact them very much when they target somebody.
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Monday 26th January 2026 12:59 GMT timrosu
Re: It's not an ID card
In Slovenia we have physical id cards with embedded security chip that houses certificate (separate version of that is called sigenca). There is phone app, but it's only used as a replacement for physical nfc scanner. If you want to check your taxes for example, you choose to log in with sipass, choose mobile app, qr code appears, you scan it with the eosebna app, tap the id on the back of the phone and accept login.
You can also sign documents with that embedded certificate, but you need dedicated compatible nfc reader and I think it's not yet supoorted on linux because they went with proprietary nxp solution. So the only way for me to sign documents is to aquire sigenca (free for personal use, lasts 5 years) and import it to firefox and use okular to sign pdf. Thankfully digital signatures are legally equal to phisical (but my faculty doesn't respect them...)
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 08:55 GMT NATTtrash
Re: It's not an ID card
> ...or due to complete incompetence of the Government
Ah... You mean like earlier mentioned Europeans, doing it very "diligently" and "economically". And then discovering that what "those radicals" have been saying might... ermmm... be happening?
https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/digid-abroad/what-is-digid
You can use your DigiD to log in to Dutch government, care institution, educational institution and pension fund websites. It shows organisations that you are who you say you are. European login. DigiD also enables you to log in to certain organisations in other European countries.
Ooops... Wet fart..?
National security assessment only way to halt Digid takeover
Hacker News: Parliament tells Dutch government to keep DigiD data out of American hands
The takeover of the company that manages DigiD has become symbolic of the Netherlands' lack of digital sovereignty
A technical briefing for members of the House of Representatives about the possible takeover of Solvinity, the company that manages the ICT for DigiD, did not reassure members of the House of Representatives. The acquisition of Solvinity, the company that manages DigiD, among other services, by a much larger American counterpart, has left government officials responsible for IT for the ministries shaken. They are trying to build in safeguards in various ways to prevent the acquisition from compromising the national login system. This became clear Wednesday during a technical briefing for the House of Representatives on the planned acquisition by the American company Kyndryl. [...]
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Monday 26th January 2026 11:43 GMT Doctor Syntax
Re: It's not an ID card
First define identity. Have you given it much thought? Have you ever tried, yourself, to prove someone's identity? Do you even know, positively, that you're the person named on your birth certificate? You were told you were but, given the occasional reports of babies being mixed up in hospitals, even those who told you that were not necessarily sure. And in any case that birth certificate will say it's not evidence of identity. Given that being a UK native is one of the entitlements to work in the UK that this is allegedly all about then not having the ability to trace an individual back to birth puts the whole thing on a shaky foundation. It leaves whoever's issuing these IDs having to believe a lot of what people say in which case Rice Davis applies.
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Monday 26th January 2026 17:20 GMT Adair
Re: It's not an ID card
Arguably, 'identity' is defined and authenticated by relationships, i.e. a,b,c,and d all agreed that x is x. They could be wrong, but the bigger the pool, and closer the degree, the greater the probability they are correct.
Anything else just ends up being dependent on too many other technical factors to be regarded as trustworthy. The most egregious current example of this is showing up at a polling station and presenting a 'driving licence', or even a 'passport' to 'prove' that I am me, and the poor saps sitting at the table have no means whatsoever of authenticating the piece of tat I have pushed in front of them.
Further complxity does nothing to guarantee a significantly higher probability of trustworthiness, but does improve the theatricality and money grubbing opportunities.
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Monday 26th January 2026 12:57 GMT R Soul
Re: It's not an ID card
I must say I side with many of our European counterparts here, in asking why we as a nation are so against the idea of a single identity system.
We're not. Any rational human being is against Starmercards. Which aren't a single identity system, even though that's what the lying weasels who support them claim. Starmercards (aka Tonycards and Blunkettcards) are to enable all-pervasive state surveillance of everyone always. The current idiot in charge of the Home Office says she wants that to happen. If Starmercards ever become a reality, every time you're made to show your Starmercard, it'll be logged. That database will be mined and monetised by shites like Palatir, Crapita, Musk, Zuckerberg, google, Fushitsu, etc. And there will be no way to escape.
"Mr Badger, the all-seeing Starmer database says you bought a packet of fags 20 years ago. You're denied NHS treatment for smoking-related illnesses. Here's a list of The Musky One's carefully chosen set of vape sellers. You'll get this sent to you every day. Oh and we're taking away your driving licence because you visit the pub one a week. Now fuck off."
As soon as any single identity system gets tied to a database - and they always will be - we're all fucked.
And why build a (mandatory) single identity system unless it is coupled to a database?
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Monday 26th January 2026 13:27 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: It's not an ID card
> As soon as any single identity system gets tied to a database - and they always will be - we're all fucked
There are already multiple databases - passport database, tax database, NHS database, DVLA database etc. all with their own ids. They're all going to be linked together in some way anyway - otherwise the police, HMRC etc. wouldn't be able to do their jobs. I would assume that we all already have a secret single id number that links to all the others, whether anyone admits it or not. Police, HMRC etc. would definitely be interested in people whose database records don't link together nicely.
Look up the 1939 England and Wales Register. Everyone's name, address etc. was collected for WWII id cards and the information was routinely updated, then repurposed for the new NHS database after the war. It would have gone electronic at some point but there is no way that any government since then would have stopped maintaining this database.
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Monday 26th January 2026 14:04 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: It's not an ID card
"I would assume that we all already have a secret single id number that links to all the others"
That assumes a level of competence that simply does not exist in Whitehall.
A single over-arching database for everything is likely to be impossible: different/conflicting requirements between departments, incompatible data security needs and access controls, cost sharing, priorities, milestones, audits, etc.
Do you really want PC Plod or the taxman rummaging around your health records?
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 00:31 GMT R Soul
Re: It's not an ID card
That could be true, though it's clearly not what Starmer and his goons have in mind.
Here's what our idiot Home Secretary said a couple of days ago: "...my ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.".
Such a dystoptian future depends on every part of the state having the same access to the all-seeing, all-tracking Starmer/Blair/Blunkett database(s). Which will also be freely available to Musk, Palantir. Crapita and the rest.
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Monday 26th January 2026 15:43 GMT Doctor Syntax
Re: It's not an ID card
"Look up the 1939 England and Wales Register. Everyone's name, address etc. was collected for WWII id cards"
Which were ditched when the emergency for which they were required was over. Unless they're claiming a new emergency that's not a justification for reinstating them and if they do declare an emergency then it need so be sufficiently well defined that they can undertake to ditch them again afterwards. But, of course, this is just a retread of what happened last time Labour were in office - they want them because they want them and it's not our place to ask why.
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Monday 26th January 2026 16:44 GMT abend0c4
Re: It's not an ID card
One problem with a single system is that if you need (or think you need) ID verification for a certain purpose, you want it to be proportionate to the risk: a single system may be burdensome overkill for minor transactions and wholly inadequate for others. Another is that if you lose access to it for some reason (theft, falsely-reported death, etc) you lose the ability to do anything.
And, of course, once you have it, it will be checked unnecessarily (for arse-covering purposes) or abusively.
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Monday 26th January 2026 10:42 GMT Dan 55
Maybe we can we look on the optimistic side for once
In-house project managers, in-house design, and outside help for the grunt work. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be done?
The switch from mandatory on day 1 to optional is for a soft roll-out, of course. I can't see a big bang with 65-million-odd records working.
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Monday 26th January 2026 13:29 GMT Electronics'R'Us
a major government digital inclusion drive
WTF is this supposed to mean?
Some people are quite happy to not be active in the so-called digital economy. I would note I am quite active but there are many times I happily pay cash for items (particularly at the village shop).
I suppose I am in the age group they think needs this 'inclusion' drive because they are, to put it bluntly, stupid.
Having been actively involved (and continue to be involved) in technology for well over 50 years, I would suggest that the people suggesting this should be part of a digital exclusion drive.
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Monday 26th January 2026 13:43 GMT Fruit and Nutcase
National Insurance Numbers
As I mentioned on another post recently, I suspect at some point, the government of the day will bring in a defacto ID card by adding all the required hardware features of an ID card to the card to they issue the National Insurance Number on. Children, upon reaching 16 are automatically issued the card. Keep quiet about it until the older anti ID card generation die off. Governments come and go, but the puppet masters will be there for the long run
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Monday 26th January 2026 16:10 GMT Anonymous Coward
The company director ID requirement is a portent of things to come
I had to go through the Companies House ID generation system, otherwise big fines.
Yes, haha, you don't need a smartphone, an app, etc - there are other methods [but they all fail].
What it really wants, and won't settle for less, is your 3D face biometrics - sampled with varied lighting, for about 20 seconds.
Now they can determine who you are on every Gov-Cam, every train, every street - it's universal ANPR for humans.
So what? - you may ask - I'm sure it will only be used for terrorists.
Erm, look at recent boundary movements, terrorism now includes peaceful and legitimate sit-down protests against favoured pariah states.
It's a lot easier to catch these white-haired terrorists as they board a train, avoiding the unnecessary fuss of dragging them halfway across Trafalgar square.
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Monday 26th January 2026 18:30 GMT Anonymous Coward
History repeating itself.
It's not the current incumbents that worry me, it's the potential for Forage and his cronies to take power. They're not honest enough or strong enough to stop the lunatics taking over. We're starting to look like Germany or Russia in the 1920's and 1930's. Their record keeping was impeccable meaning they knew who to wake in the middle of the night.
I'm all for fierce independence, but of the Churchillian kind. Democracy isn't perfect but is under threat and we'd better wake up soon.
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 00:44 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Wrong name.
That total wanker Blunkett tried that very thing ~30 years ago. We were all supposed to get his so-called entitlement cards to collect welfare payments from the post office, borrow library books, apply for a passport or driving licence, buy tickets for a football match, make a GP appointment, etc, etc.
It doesn't matter what name is given to ID cards. It doesn't detract from their objective and the intent of the lying charlatans who pimp this evil.
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Monday 26th January 2026 19:07 GMT Blue Screen of Bleurgh
Is this just another example of the move towards The Great Reset and Build Back Better?
Is this another move towards the UK's very own Social Credit System? Be a good citizen and earn some goody points; but be a bad boy and its the naughty step for you!
The UN's 2030 Agenda move inexorably closer
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Monday 26th January 2026 20:44 GMT 5n0wcha1ns
In House Project
The Job should be handed to GCHQ, They have the Server Farm capacity and DV checked coders to complete the project in house in Cheltenham.
This is not the kind of project for vibe coding by Anyone based offshore such as in India where security checks are as worthless as NDA's.
There are plenty of Employees there that have been involved in creating State Security ID Database Systems for Other countries. As well as upgrading the UK PNC.
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 11:17 GMT Disgusted of Cheltenham
Re: In House Project
That would mean NCSC marking its own homework. The DV is fundamentally about confidentiality: access to classified information. There was a protective marking system 1995-2015), and the techncal part of that would have covered all national systems, but the personnel policy was never updated by the Security Serice to cover threats to integrity and availability. Pick a department that is used to dealing with the public: DWP or even MoD (who do schools, housing, medical, travel as well as shooting things).
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 02:11 GMT Anonymous Coward
ID cards, meh!
I am Australian, always have been from birth.
I travel on an Australian passport, always have. I’ve visited the UK multiple times this way.
Now (from February 2026), if I want to visit the UK I need a British passport!
Turns out I’m automatically a UK citizen by descent whether I like it or not.
No choice.
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 07:05 GMT Pickle Rick
Re: ID cards, meh!
What the actual fuck! I had to do some checking on this, as it sounds so nuts, but yeah! You must have at least one Brit parent, right?
What an absolute crock! So, your "only" option is to renounce British citizenship, for which it seems there's a fee - they're printing money from this either way![1] In the rules for when you can give up your citizenship, it states "you must be of sound mind". That's proven by requesting the renunciation, Shirley!
Thanks for pointing this out. The nefarious bastards.
PS. if you do become solely an AU citizen, will you adopt me so I can GTFO?!
[1] Buy a passport or pay to "opt-out". That can't be "legal" - I'd renounce and tell them to FRO with the fee explaining that. Try the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 20 "The Right Not to Associate" - No one may be compelled to belong to an association. GLWT!!
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Tuesday 27th January 2026 10:59 GMT Disgusted of Cheltenham
Re: ID cards, meh!
This used to be a strange US requirement for dual citizens, but then Australia adopted it, so perhaps no surprise (but no excuse) for UK to do it in return. It smells of the result a badly designed online/digital system rather than a policy decision. At least the Barnaby Joyce nonsense around dual citizenship for elected office doesn't arise in the UK. Note also the name of the FCDO: Australians are commonwealth, not foreign.
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