On September 28, the citizens of Switzerland approved a state-run digital ID. The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister’s Office and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer published on September 26 that a mandatory digital ID will be issued before the end of this parliament. Sir Starmer, in an interview, very much looking like a used car salesman trying to get a pigeon to buy a flood-damaged car by claiming the ID will help stop illegal immigration. India’s rollout of their digital ID was disastrous, with people unable to buy food. Estonia also has a digital ID, but a computer glitch caused about 750,000 people to lose access to their identification. Various EU countries, Australia, and China already have a system in place. Prime Minister Starmer announced his plans at the Global Progress Action Summit with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney in attendance..KEENEY: Charlie Kirk and the fragility of civic peace.The touted benefits of the BritCard include personal identification, citizenship, biometric information, banking information, tax information, and more — accessible via an app, all designed to make your life more convenient. The UK’s prime minister has stated that you will need the digital ID to work in the country. Renting a flat, accessing education, childcare, government benefits, and voting will require you to show your digital ID — not only to government agents but also to certain classes of citizens such as your employer and landlord. It will also help the government track employer compliance. There are already a plethora of videos with people arguing that the digital ID will do nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration. The former head of Labour, now an independent, Jeremy Corbyn, has called it “an affront to our civil liberties” and stated, “It is excessive state interference…” on X. Big Brother Watch, Liberty, the British Democratic Alliance, and the Ulster Unionist Party have all gone on record opposing the BritCard. Other political parties against the BritCard include the Green Party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party, Sinn Féin, and Democratic Unionist Party..Recent polls in the UK show that only about 14% of the population support this idea. Nigel Farage, the head of the Reform Party, has been very critical and called the plan “un-British.” On the UK Government and Parliament Petitions’ page, a petition has been posted with just under three million signatures demanding the government not introduce a mandatory digital ID. Critics point to the multitude of problems with the eVisa brought in during the COVID pandemic as proof of government overreach as a likely outcome. People are concerned on several fronts. The reasons for this begin with the fact that the government will establish a massive database collecting personal information of all sorts on every citizen. This would create a prime target for cyberattacks by both state actors and individuals. If they gain access, everyone in the UK will be compromised. Although the government has launched an all-out campaign to reassure UK citizens that it will be safe and convenient, everyone around the world already knows that the government cannot guarantee this. .OLDCORN: Alberta’s teachers’ union abandons students for politics.The Transport for London (TfL), the British Library, the British National Party, the City and Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust, the National Health Service, the Driving Standards Agency, Heathrow Airport, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the UK Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, and the UK Revenue and Customs — as well as other arms of the UK Government — have all experienced data breaches. Closer to home, one of the most tragic stories is the case where 28,000 BC healthcare workers had their identities stolen. This group has had their lives turned upside down for more than a decade, trying to clear up the problem. Of considerable concern is the loss of anonymity in public spaces. Presently, you can walk down the street, and no one knows you, nor do they care what you are about as long as you are behaving in a civil manner. There is some tracking when you step into a shop, a bank, or commuter train platform, but these videos are kept by the local provider and destroyed regularly. With the government keeping track, and the extensive use of facial recognition as well as walking gait recognition, there will no longer be anonymity. It’s reported that in China, if you “jaywalk,” you are automatically fined — no judge, no chance to explain. .In most countries, there is a lack of an adequate legal structure to deal with the possible ramifications of this type of technology. In some places, if your corporation or your bank has a data breach, they bear no legal responsibility. It becomes your personal problem. As we all know, the average person’s consent when going online is given without much thought because the lack of common-sense protections is buried in legalese on long forms. Present laws protect the companies, not the individual, and transparency is absent. Other reasons include mission creep. A centralized national system would allow tracking of paying bills, shopping, online activity, your vaccine status, political activities, donations, and more. This, in turn, could lead to the government disabling your ability to participate fully in society. If they think you use too much natural gas to heat your home, a political party in power does not like your comments on X, you buy too much meat according to the government-recommended consumption guidelines, and other nightmare scenarios all become possible. Think of what happened in the EU with the vaccine passports during the COVID pandemic. Or recall what happened not only to the Canadian truckers who protested but to the people sitting comfortably in their homes who supported them. .HILTON-O’BRIEN: Big money in little politics.The digital ID is another idea supported by the World Economic Forum (WEF). In 2023, they issued a report titled “Reimagining Digital ID.” The United Nations (UN) also is advocating for it. In 2025, the UN will advance to phase two of their plan. The UN’s plan is stated to be only for UN workers but global. Obviously, such a vision could be structured to create a global digital ID for the entire world population by linking individual countries’ databases. There are more than enough people in high positions who support a one-world government. Service Canada is developing a digital ID for Canadians. Initially, the use of the digital ID will be voluntary, and standard IDs will still be acceptable. Some provinces and even Air Canada have already begun using a digital ID. After COVID and the truckers’ protest, how much do you trust the government? It is doubtful that this technology, and the mission creep that will certainly follow after full implementation, can be stopped. Individuals will have to protect themselves as best as they can from the dangers outlined above. Dr. A.W. Barber is the former Director of Asian Studies at the University of Calgary. He is internationally active and has wide-ranging interests.
