Starmer's digital ID reboot raises same old questions as its Blair-era ancestor

Summary

Opinion Last week's UK government consultation on its plans for digital identity had quite a few things missing. It did not include a price estimate - something it said was due to decisions yet to be taken on the scheme's scope - or how long the government would keep "audit trail" records of ID checks. The consultation mentions audit trails will support the enforcement of right-to-work checks. When Tony Blair's Labour government introduced ID cards in the 2000s, audit trails of when, where, and how people used the scheme had a different purpose. Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke argued the move would make life harder for terrorist suspects. "They have to find roundabout ways to stay in hotels, hire cars, buy mobile phones, and generally carry out their activities," he wrote in a 2005 regulatory impact assessment, albeit for what was planned as a compulsory scheme. Initially, Brits are unlikely to use Sir Keir Starmer's digital ID scheme more than once or twice a year – it will launch covering right-to-work checks and possibly vehicle tax, and remains optional after the prime minister U-turned on mandating it for new employees. But as its uses expand, the audit trail it generates will draw growing interest from both law enforcement and privacy campaigners - offering, for instance, a timestamped map of every pub a young person visited on a Friday night. How long the scheme will hold audit trail entries is something that MPs and Lords should examine when the government legislates later this year. The consultation discusses what alternatives it could offer to digital IDs held on people's smartphones. Estonia's compulsory identity system, for example, lets citizens choose how they use it, with around two-thirds having a physical smartcard, half using a smartphone app, and a fifth having a special SIM card that works with any type of mobile. The UK government seems wedded to smartphones, an odd stance given it is simultaneously consulting on restricting under-16s' use ...