What happens if your phone breaks? What happens when Google arbitrarily bans your account?
this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
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Straight to the Starmer gulags!
They're better, because they were created by a neoliberal corporate-whore, instead of a fascist kleptocrat like Farage!
I mean. That’s true.
Still should toss this fuckwit to the lions tho.
Exactly the same thing as if your phone breaks now and you want to access any of the government's online services. You have to buy a new one (or use a computer).
Why digital ID? Can't they just make a physical ID like every country?
it's much easier to watch and control people with digital ID. Like your payroll, bank transfers, groceries, taxes etc.
Or just support both options. Why does it have to be on a phone?
Cheepnis
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Can any Brits explain to an American why your country hates privacy? It sounds dystopian over there in the UK.
It's funny that you say living here sounds like a distopia ...
But whattabout all the terrible things someone else does...
Yeah, America has the leading edge on neo-fascism right now, don't get competitive about it.
Can any Brits explain to an American why your country hates privacy?
that's rich coming from the home of the PRISM and the XKeyscore.
Also, the source of Facebook
Well, let’s see. The UK wants mandatory ID because today you can walk in to an hospital and get $100,000 of free healthcare without even proving you are entitled to it. And you can maybe work without paying taxes. And you move freely and safely anywhere in the country.
In the US, if you do not have proof of citizenship on you at all times (and maybe even if you do), you may be snatched off the street, detained, and perhaps even sent to a foreign prison all without due process of any kind.
Wow, now that I say it out loud, you are right. The UK sounds like a hell-hole.
It’s not a contest.
Well. Not a good one.
Well, let’s see. The UK wants mandatory ID because today you can walk in to an hospital and get $100,000 of free healthcare without even proving you are entitled to it.
the healtcare does not cost that much in the UK, because we/they don't have idiotic "insurance" companies driving up the prices to make one OTC pill that should cost 30cents cost 400 dollars.
On this they're both outliers. Mandatory ID is pretty much the norm.
Living in a place with it... it's fine. Helps with some things. Definitely not the weird sci-fi tyrannical dystopia Brits and Americans suggest. It mostly depends on what is built around it. It's not like identification doesn't exist for fundamental transactions in places without a single consolidated ID document.
And yes, ours has all the accoutrements, including a digital certificate and biometric data, just like your passport does.
Mandatory ID isn't the problem. The problem is the digital and surveillance aspect.
You sure everybody else agrees with you on that?
Cause it doesn't sound like it.
To be clear, I do think the UK's proposal specifically is problematic in that it requires you to own a specific device to support it and that it's targeting undocumented migrants specifically. That said, the UK has a contentious relationship with the concept of mandatory ID that goes beyond the practical implementation issues or the actual instances of overreach being proposed alongside it.
I mean, for one thing I have no idea why they couldn't implement this as an ID card like everybody else does.
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The Netherlands also has mandatory ID.
This map needs an explanation. Is grey just no data? Why the two shades of green? The numbers, what do they mean?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_identity_card_policies_by_country
I get that Google sucks these days, but... you know, there are still ways.
I don't see that picture in the linked article. A similar picture, but it doesn't have the numbers and shades of green.
I know how to use search engines, by the way. But I also think that it's the responsibility of the person sharing graphs/maps to provide context for those graphs to enable readers to understand the data without having to go and do their own research. There's no guarantee anyone finds the original source or that the source even provides the necessary context, if the sharer just grabbed a picture from Google Images without regard for the source.
So no, I won't even attempt to find context and happily push that burden back on the person who lazily shared a graph without explanation.
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So, all the countries I'd actually want to live in, except Spain: non-compulsory.
So you'd live in Spain but not in Portugal, Germany, Belgium or Greece? That's highly specific aspirational European life goals. What's with that? You like it when the Ñs get curls but Çs make you queasy?
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in America I can pay someone a handful of grain and gain access to every piece of data about them.
So England has adopted a Chinese style social credit system, eh?
Why no physical backup?
I like the way US states that are (slowly) rolling out digital IDs.
First, the physical id is not being replaced.
Second, the digital ids only work in small subsets Until it’s rolled out to more areas.
For example, Californias only allows usage for proving you are over 21 (the app shows a Boolean flag to the person checking your id so it’s actually MORE private) or at select airports for domestic flights.
I am of the opinion that we CAN have a digital ID with some simple privacy items in place and ALWAY allowing a physical backup or opt out.
All of this “think of the children” digital surveillance could be partially mitigated by allowing OIDC like (stripping out unneeded information) that allows anyone to integrate an age check, Id verification, etc without much information being sent to the other apps.
Of course, this doesn’t solve the government knowing your business, but if physical backups were mandated it would help.
I think these age gates are short sighted and don’t do a lot to solve the issues, as it pushed people “underground”, just like prohibition in the states, and causes more issues.
Edit: just occurred to me, we could use a physical hardware key (like a passkey) to prove your age cryptographically without involving government apis.
You plug the fob into your phone, computer, etc. push the button and you are good…
So.... The British Government are choosing to make Alex Jones right. Not a good idea.
Alex Jones is never right, not even when he's right.
Every time I start to forgive labour enough to vote for them next time to keep reform out they find a new reason to make me stay home.
What a fucking fail party.
Edit: I'm fine with mandatory ID for citizens, but with the UKs history of building digital services rolling this out to be digital first will almost certainly be a total disaster
ID was mandatory before for employment too. This is more a one ID to rule them all kind of thing.
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