Campaigners have lashed out at proposals to include children aged 13 or over in its digital ID rollout – which the government says will tackle illegal migration
Kids as young as 13 could be required to have digital ID cards under plans being weighed up.
Critics have lashed out at proposals to include under-16s, branding them “sinister” and “unnecessary”. Keir Starmer says he wants to roll out digital identification by 2029.
Supporters say it will be a key tool in tackling illegal migration, as those applying for jobs and housing will have to show they have the right to be in the UK. But it has provoked a fierce backlash, with nearly three million signing a petition demanding it is scrapped.
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The Government is weighing up whether to include youngsters aged 13 and over. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told LBC Radio that “lots of 13-year olds already do” have a form of digital ID.
A consultation will consider whether to include under-16s. Ms Cooper said: “Everybody has forms of digital ID… We all have different ways of having to prove who we are.
“Lots of 13-year-olds already do [have a form of digital ID], and what the department is going to be consulting on is exactly how that should be taken forward.
“I do think that this is the right way forward, to have this standardised process now, and it’s something that we had been already setting out for people who come to work from abroad.”
It has sparked a wave of opposition. Lib Dem MP Victoria Collins, who leads on science and technology, said: “This is proof that the Liberal Democrats were absolutely right to warn about mission creep.
“The Government is already plotting to drag teenagers into a mandatory digital ID scheme before it’s even off the ground. It’s frankly sinister, unnecessary, and a clear step towards state overreach.”
Backers say a new ‘BritCard’ – which would be linked to Government records – would help tackle illegal migration and rogue landlords. In the summer think-tank Labour Together said the smartphone ID app would make right-to-rent and right-to-work checks quicker and easier.
Backbench MPs Jake Richards and Adam Jogee said in June the ID cards would be a “full, country-wide effort” allowing people to prove their right to be here. Labour Together said in a report that a “mandatory, universal, national identity credential” can help the UK secure its borders.
BritCards would be issued free of charge to everyone with the right to live and work in the UK, the group said. It estimated it would cost between £140million and £400million to set up. Mr Richards and Mr Jogee wrote that digital ID “will help improve the enforcement of our rules dramatically”.
Other countries which have already rolled out digital ID include Estonia, Demark, Spain, Canada, Australia and Japan.
In a response to the petition calling for digitial ID plans to be scrapped, the Government said: “This is not a card but a new digital identity that will be available for free to all UK citizens and legal residents aged 16 and over (although we will consider through consultation if this should be age 13 and over).
“Over time, people will be able to use it to seamlessly access a range of public and private sector services, with the aim of making our everyday lives easier and more secure.
“It will not be compulsory to obtain a digital ID but it will be mandatory for some applications.”
Campaign group Big Brother Watch have called on MPs to reject the proposals. Director Silkie Carlo said: “The prospects of enrolling even children into this sprawling biometric ID system is sinister, unjustified and prompts the chilling question of just what Starmer’s government think the digital ID will be used for in the future.
“At a time when parents are taking a critical view of whether children should have smartphones, it is shocking that the government is considering enroling children into this digital ID app.”
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