The Case Against Mandatory Digital ID Brit Card [Pt 1]

At the end of October 2025, the UK government under Keir Starmer unveiled plans for a national Digital ID system, sometimes called the “Brit Card”.

The government claims this will modernise public services, simplify access to jobs, bank accounts, mortgages, and rental agreements, and prevent fraud. Every citizen and legal resident would receive a free digital ID.

The Prime Minister says it will “put power back in people’s hands” and cut bureaucracy. The scheme is also promoted as a tool to crack down on illegal working and migration.

The Workers of England Union (WEU) strongly opposes this plan. While digital ID is sold as convenience, the risks to civil liberties, employment rights, and fairness are substantial.

WEU’s key concerns:

Privacy and surveillance risks

Mandatory digital ID creates a platform for mass surveillance. Centralised or linked databases are attractive targets for hackers. Once in place, “function creep” is almost inevitable, expanding access beyond employment checks to monitoring daily activities. Worker data could be used to profile or control employees.

Digital exclusion and fairness

Millions of people lack smartphones, reliable internet, or digital skills. Vulnerable groups, including low-income workers, the elderly, disabled risk being locked out of work, housing, and public services. Digital exclusion could worsen inequalities in the labour market.

Effectiveness questioned

There is little evidence that mandatory digital ID will reduce illegal working. The root causes of illegal employment are employer practices and enforcement, not lack of identity verification. Without clear standards, safeguards, and oversight, the system’s effectiveness is highly doubtful.

Employment rights and democratic implications

Making a digital ID a prerequisite for employment or services shifts power from workers to the state, undermining autonomy, privacy, and consent. It risks normalising intrusive monitoring of workers.

The WEU calls for caution, transparency, and respect for employment rights. Employment should never be conditional on a state-controlled digital identifier.