The first digital ID launches today

From today, digital veteran cards are available for ex-members of the armed services – the first step in the digitisation of almost every form of ID.

No, this isn’t the controversial “mandatory” right to work checks announced recently – more on that later – but it is part of the same programme for pretty much all forms of government identification to be accessible on your phone by the end of 2027.

This will mean passports, driving licences, national insurance cards and many more being virtual instead of – or as well as – being stashed in a shoebox or under socks in a drawer.

At an event at the Tower of London – chosen for its millennia-old juxtaposition with the digital revolution – Beefeaters showed off their shiny new cards and joked of using it to get discounted food.

There was an occasional tech hiccup here and there with getting the cards downloaded, mostly due to dodgy internet, it seemed, but in general it was all smiles.

The minister in charge of the rollout, Ian Murray MP, crowed of the benefits of having documents on your phone and how it will make life easier.

“We all use our smartphones for everyday life,” he explained.

“So it’s about making the relationship with the citizen easier and making their access to government services easier.”

Mr Murray said he is looking forward to the end of “having to continuously fill out my name, my address, my telephone number” and instead just scanning his phone.

How will it work?

Having all government documents accessible in an Apple or Google Wallet-style app is the end goal, and the solution is being built on similar secure technology that underpins storing payment cards on your phone.

The work is being done in house by Government Digital Service, part of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, that houses the digitisation expertise in Whitehall.

Any mention of digitisation of the personal information raises questions around security, but the government insists its solution is safe with a “federated” approach.

To use the example of a veteran’s ID, this would mean that the original data of who is a veteran, where they served, and all other relevant information would remain with the Ministry of Defence.

Once the sign-in and verification with this data has been completed on a phone, this can then be used to prove someone is a veteran, and easily give them access to housing, mental health support, shopping discounts, museum entry and other benefits, the government says.

What about other forms of ID?

For driving licences, the data would stay with DVLA, passports with the passport office, and national insurance with the Department for Work and Pensions.

Those who have worked on the creation of the software say this stops the creation of a single vault of everyone’s personal data in one place.

In order to get the card on your phone, you would need to use the phone’s security – such as a face scan, fingerprint, or pin code.

There is even talk that technology like contactless could be used with the government’s version of the wallet to tap and verify things like age in an off-licence.

The hope from government is that it can speed up tedious paper-based interactions, like house buying, passport control, and the right to work.

It is here where the sticking point on this policy plan becomes apparent.

Papers, please?

Announcing “mandatory” digital ID last month, the prime minister made it clear this was about cracking down on immigration.

Straightaway, concerns were raised about why a compulsory digital ID was needed, who would check it, and what for.

Polling showed – especially among Tory and Reform voters – an opposition to this policy, when it is these people the immigration battle is being fought over.

Tory MP and a stalwart opponent of government overreach David Davis said: “Digital ID gives the state the unchecked power to digitally strip citizens naked.”

He added: “Starmer’s scheme will be even more risky as ransomware criminals, foreign states and other hackers will attack the strategic weak points in the OneLogin architecture.”

If the government believes digitising identification is so beneficial, and such a win-win, why does it want to force people to use it rather than see the benefits and choose to use it?

Mr Murray said the right to work ID will be mandatory as “it’s mandatory already to be able to prove that you can work in the UK”.

He insists it will make the process for employees easier, and also make it easier for the Home Office to see which employers are not making checks – no more photocopying passports and scanning old phone bills.

The government is adamant this is the only mandatory use case, with the suggestion even that the digital ID could be deleted once employment is confirmed.

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But the flip side is that once this can of worms is opened, this or a future government could change tack and would have the digital infrastructure to do what it wants.

But Mr Murray said: “The principle here is to make the state and the citizen’s relationship much easier – and the power of the data in the hands of the citizen.”