Big Brother Watch warns of “Checkpoint Britain” in vital new report examining the dangers of digital ID

Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch has warned of the serious privacy and security risks associated with mandatory digital ID in a new report,‘Checkpoint Britain: the dangers of digital ID and why privacy must be protected.’ The report includes original independent polling showing that the clear majority of the British public does not trust the government to keep their digital ID data secure.

Within days of coming to power after the last general election, Keir Starmer’s government committed to not implementing a digital ID scheme. Unfortunately, the government now seems to be on the brink of reversing course and forcing every adult in the UK into a mass surveillance infrastructure that will gather troves of sensitive information and insert the state into everyday interactions — all in the name of tackling illegal immigration.

No one voted for a digital ID scheme, and the government has no clear mandate to implement one. Yet the government seems intent on fundamentally changing the population’s relationship with the state without even awaiting the findings of the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee’s ongoing inquiry into digital ID systems.

In its vital new ‘Checkpoint Britain’ report, Big Brother Watch examines how mandatory digital ID would turn the UK into the kind of “papers, please” society that the British public has always rejected. The report lays out in detail how a digital ID system could work, how the government could mandate it for a range of public services, the devastating impact it would have on privacy and civil liberties, and why the clear majority of the British public is right to distrust the government’s ability to keep digital ID data safe.

The report includes independent polling commissioned by Big Brother Watch through YouGov, showing that a clear majority of people (63%) does not trust the government to keep their digital ID data secure. The polling also found that worries over cyber attacks and threats to privacy are the most prevalent concerns associated with a mandatory digital ID.

Key report findings include:

• At their worst, digital ID systems can enable population-wide surveillance; infringe on civil liberties; monitor, predict or influence individuals’ decisions; identify individuals or groups for targeted interventions; and facilitate the tracking, persecution, or differential treatment of marginalised groups.

• There is little evidence to support the government’s claim that digital ID would deter illegal immigration or employment fraud, and many good reasons to believe that mandatory digital ID would burden law-abiding citizens and businesses.

• No matter what is promised at the outset, once in place, a digital ID system is highly likely to be used beyond its initial stated purposes. The government is already considering proposals that would require digital ID for right-to-work and right-to-rent checks. Other reporting suggests that an option under consideration would expand further into everyday interactions such as voting online, signing contracts, paying bills and shopping.

• There are serious doubts about the government’s ability to run an effective and efficient digital ID scheme and prevent against the system failures and inaccuracies that have plagued the eVisa system. There is also significant doubt about the government’s ability to protect the vast amounts of personal data collected in a digital ID scheme – a point which 63% of respondents polled said they were concerned about.

• Far from being a backwards outlier, the UK is in good company with countries that have inherited its legal systems such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in consistently rejecting mandatory ID systems.

Keir Starmer’s government is selling digital ID as a means to tackle a popular political goal without evidence that it will work or assurances that digital ID will not become required for many functions and activities of everyday life. What we do know is that any mandatory digital ID system created by a government intent on deterring illegal immigration will inevitably create infrastructure that will usher in a new era of mass surveillance and cause irreversible harm to the privacy rights and civil liberties of the entire population.

Digital ID will also be the focus of Big Brother Watch’s events on the sidelines of the Liberal Democrat, Labour, and Conservative party conferences in Bournemouth, Manchester and Liverpool, respectively.

Interim Director of Big Brother Watch Rebecca Vincent said:

“We are alarmed by the recent escalation in the Labour government’s moves towards adopting a mandatory digital ID scheme. Voters have had no say in the matter, nor has Parliament, yet we are being marched increasingly closer to a dangerous redline past which our civil liberties can never fully recover.

The notion that digital ID will provide a magic-bullet solution for unauthorised immigration is ludicrous. It will not stop small boat crossings, and it will not deter those intent on using non-legal means of entering the country from doing so. But digital ID will create a huge burden for the largely law-abiding 60 million people who already live here and insert the state into many aspects of our everyday lives.

The British people have a long and proud history of rejecting mandatory ID, and we shoud reject this one too. The stakes for our privacy rights have never been higher.”

Sir David Davis MP said:

“Digital ID cards may sound modern and efficient, but they are a profoundly dangerous idea. Claims that they will tackle illegal immigration are misleading. They won’t. That is a fig leaf for a policy that risks eroding our fundamental freedoms.

This is not about security – it’s about control. A centralised digital ID system would hand the state unprecedented power over its citizens.

Worse, no system is immune to failure. Time and again, both governments and tech giants have failed to protect personal data. If Meta and Microsoft cannot secure it, what chance does Whitehall have?

Digital IDs won’t stop illegal immigration, but they will undermine privacy, increase the risk of data breaches, and weaken the rights of law-abiding Britons.

That failure will be permanent, and the damage to people’s rights will be irreversible. Long after the reason for this policy is forgotten, it will continue to put our private information at risk from hackers, criminals, and over-mighty governments.

Today’s report from Big Brother Watch makes plain the inherent risks of this dangerously misguided policy.”

Baroness Shami Chakrabarti said:

“I can see why tech companies are salivating at the prospect of mandatory digital ID. The public benefits are more opaque.

No asylum seeker will be deterred by this bureaucracy. There are already passports for travel and NI numbers for work. A single non-purpose specific compulsory identifier is a recipe for privacy intrusion and race discrimination in every corner of our lives.

Hackers will rejoice and anyone who believes in the infallibility of technology should have the Postmasters tattooed on their heart.”

Notes:

• Spokespeople are available for interview. Please direct enquiries or requests for interviews to info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk or 07730439257

• Checkpoint Britain: the dangers of digital ID and why privacy must be protected is available for download 

• The report findings will be discussed at Big Brother Watch’s events on the sidelines of the Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democrats party conferences. Please contact info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk for more details.

• To date, more than 90,000 people have signed Big Brother Watch’s petition calling for Keir Starmer to scrap plans for a mandatory digital ID.

• More detail on Big Brother Watch’s work on digital ID is available on our website.

• All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 2,153 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 20-21 August 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

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