Saying No to Digital IDs

There's a better way, where you remain in healthy control.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has initiated a concerted push toward a national digital ID. In one sense he’s a bit behind the curve — many other countries are further down this road already — but the UK has a history of rejecting proposals for national identity cards (just ask Tony Blair).

That the UK Government is steaming ahead with its plans despite strong historical opposition, reveals the seriousness of the situation. The Government really really wants digital ID. So does the European Commission — if you’re an EU citizen, you’ll be offered an EU Digital Identity Wallet by December 2026, if not before. Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Pakistan, India are already far down this road with some pretty undesirable consequences.

Why are they so keen? And why should you be concerned? Let’s take a look.

Digital IDs Trade Sovereignty For (State) Convenience

Digital IDs are a Trojan horse that quietly introduces serious generational risks to privacy, freedom, and personal autonomy under the cover of convenience and security. For example:

They Rob You Of Your Privacy

Digital IDs are being sold as a safer way to prove who you are. In practice, they can be used to track, log, and profile your activities across multiple domains—online and offline. Consider that:

• Every time you use a digital ID, it could leave a data trail.

• This information might be shared across agencies, companies, and borders, often without clear consent.

Saudi Arabia’s digital ID app ‘Absher’ has over 20 million users and offers access to a rising number of public services. The app also allows men to receive notifications if a woman under their guardianship passes through an airport. From the convenience of his phone, a man can withdraw a woman’s right to travel. Human rights organisations raised the alarm over this over six years ago, and Apple looked into it. To this day, the app has not been changed and it is still available to download on the Apple Store.

One may dismiss this as particular to Saudi Arabia, but it demonstrates how digital ID facilitates privacy violations. What draconian laws exist in your country that digital ID would allow governments to enforce even more efficiently, to the detriment of all but an elite few? In the UK, the Online Safety Act is just one example.

They Centralise Control Over Access

Digital ID systems often become a central gateway to services: banking, healthcare, travel, voting, employment. This means whoever controls the ID system can control access.

• If your ID is frozen, deactivated, or flagged—you could be locked out of daily life.

• Mistakes or false positives in such systems could have life-altering consequences.

Pakistan’s Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) has locked out millions from crucial public services, including schools, the right to vote, even banking. This was reported back in 2022, when a woman won the right to a CNIC by taking the government to court. Should anyone require a digital ID to access basic services? Of course not.

They Put Your Data At Risk

Centralising sensitive data in a digital ID system creates a high-value target for hackers.

• Breaches could expose deeply personal and biometric data that cannot be changed—unlike a password.

• Once stolen, your digital identity could be used against you permanently.

Back to Pakistan’s CNIC, which includes biometric data such as iris scans and fingerprints. According to Reuters, this data is accessed by 300 public and private service providers - today’s figure could be even higher. Already, there have been several data breaches, with victims becoming subject to blackmail.

This issue is universal. Arch-pedlar of digital ID Tony Blair has emphasised that data would be secure. But hang on, what about the UK Government’s multiple data breaches like this one just days ago, or this one, or this one, or maybe this one?

It’s worth checking the cybersecurity history of your own government. How does it look? If there are significant breaches, consider the exponentially larger risk involved with a digital ID.

What Starts As Voluntary May Become Mandatory

No one likes being made to do something, which is why governments first introduce digital IDs as optional. Not only that, what begins with limited scope — vaccine passports, digital driver’s licences — tends to mushroom quickly.

• This “incrementalism” is what makes it a Trojan horse.

• It begins as optional, then slowly becomes required for more and more aspects of life.

Donald Trump recently announced a ‘health tracking system’ - could this morph into a digital ID? Yes, if the UK is anything to go by. In presenting the push to a digital ID, the UK Government is explicitly citing the NHS app it launched during the pandemic as a kind of proof of concept. Be vigilant, America!

Convenience = Surveillance

With biometric links (iris scans, fingerprints, facial recognition), digital IDs can become tools of mass surveillance.

• Combined with AI and big data, governments or corporations can build behavioral profiles, predict actions, or enforce conformity.

• In authoritarian regimes, such systems have been used to suppress dissent and enforce social credit scores.

China’s social credit system is a good example of just how bad digital surveillance can get. In 2022, the Government stopped people from attending a protest over their savings being frozen. How? By turning their health status to ‘red’, blocking them from public transport. One anonymous protester described it as ‘digital handcuffs’.

Could this happen in your country? Last week the UK Government announced the creation of a real-time crime map by 2030 as a way to predict crime before it happens. The ostensible reasons are noble: to reduce knife crime and violence against females. But again, what government wouldn’t want to expand this to other areas, and use digital ID to facilitate it?

Erosion of Consent and Choice

If everything you need to function—ID, money, medical access—is linked to one digital key, then you lose meaningful control. You may be forced to comply with new terms, policies, or government orders just to keep access. If this sounds far-fetched, note that this is already the case in several countries, as mentioned above.

Digital ID is touted as being convenient - but convenient for who?

By Bob Moran - prints available here.

What can we do? Plenty! There IS a Better Way!

Politicians and the media love to give the impression that this is inevitable and you have no choice. They also excel at making people feel like their opinion and actions don’t matter. But they’re lying to you. You ALWAYS have a choice and you have agency.

When people peacefully stand their ground, entire structures can crumble. We are not yet trapped in a digital prison - and we are not just digital ‘avatars’. We all have a voice and together, we can simply say no.

Here are just a few ways:

1. Send your representative a message in your own words. That can be your MP, or you can go straight to the top: to email Keir Starmer, click here.

2. If you’re in the UK, respond to the UK Parliamentary Inquiry on Digital ID before the deadline on 21st August. Together has an easy template you can use to do this.

3. Keep opting out! Remember that you can say no:

   1. At travel terminals, avoid machines like CLEAR kiosks in the US. Request manual identity checks. If you meet with resistance, calmly ask them to show you the specific legal statute that requires you to submit to biometric scanning to travel.

   2. When companies or agencies request biometric identity checks, ask for an alternative. For example, Companies House in the UK now requires company directors to prove their identity. One way is to submit biometric data - but it’s not the only way. You can visit a Post Office, or get verified by an Authorised Corporate Service Provider such as your accountant.

Learn to Love Inconvenience

Making this peaceful stand will inevitably mean more paperwork, more back-and-forth, more of your time. Instead of thinking of it as time wasted or as massive inconvenience, reframe the ‘problem’. This is you, asserting your right to live freely in the manner of your choice, for your own sake and also for future generations.

There will be times when it feels like it’s not worth the hassle. There will be times when those around you will think you’ve lost the plot. But remember: you are part of a movement that puts sovereignty and civil liberties before convenience. It’s easy to regret handing over digital data for the sake of an easy life. But you will never regret standing up for freedom. This is the better way, and we do it together!