The government of the United Kingdom is pushing ahead with its planned rollout of a nationwide digital ID system. It will start this month with the launch of a system for verifying digital IDs and a portal where uploaded credentials can easily be accessed.
On April 6, the British government is expected to introduce new technology for public use that can verify digital IDs. This verification system allows government agencies and businesses to get hold of private data uploaded by users to servers as part of their sign-up for the British digital ID system.
According to recent announcements from the British government, the verification technology will be made available to employers, landlords and letting agents who need the technology to carry out pre-employment criminal record checks, right to work checks and right to rent checks.
The introduction of the verification technology is part of the British government’s digital ID plans announced last month. The government claims that the digital ID can help U.K. citizens to “easily and quickly prove their identity using digital methods instead of having to rely on traditional physical documents.”
British government to launch online portal where all citizen credentials are accessible to “trusted organizations”
As part of the British government’s nationwide digital ID plan, the verification technology is intended to pave the way for the trial launch of its proposed “One Login for Government” project.
The first public version of the One Login for Government project is expected to go live this month, with full deployment scheduled for 2025.
The One Login program is expected to be an online portal where British citizens can create an account to access all the public services they are entitled to, including healthcare, education, housing and other benefits.
Under the British government’s digital ID plans, so-called “trusted organizations” like employers, landlords and letting agents will be able to access any information they require from British citizens through the single digital identity uploaded in the One Login program. This information can be used in-person or online and either through a smartphone app or a website.
The verification checks carried out by the so-called trusted organizations will supposedly help prevent the British government from losing over 52 billion pounds ($68.2 billion) to fraud every year and can save taxpayers up to one billion pounds ($1.3 billion) every week.
Privacy concerns hamper launch of UK digital ID system
The British government has been trying to launch some kind of digital ID system for nearly a decade. It has consistently been plagued with technical issues and a lack of support from different government agencies and a large portion of the U.K. public.
The biggest constraint is making sure that the system is secure from potential breaches and does not put the privacy of citizens at risk. One survey of British citizens on current attitudes towards online personal data use and privacy carried out by Statista last year found that more than half of respondents were very concerned about their online privacy, more so compared to a year ago.
Even if the U.K. government will somehow miraculously be able to create a system that is secure from potential breaches and data thefts, another challenge is getting citizens to actually use the digital ID system. Other recent surveys show that many people are still very reluctant to use it.
One survey conducted earlier this year found that one out of every three people in Britain are hesitant to trust the government to handle digital services due to overcomplicated transactions, fears about data breaches and past issues with using digital services.
Learn more about ID systems and other ways governments attempt to surveil their populations at Surveillance.news.
Watch this clip from InfoWars as host Harrison Smith talks about how the World Economic Forum is preparing to launch a global digital ID system.
This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.
(Article by Arsenio Toledo republished from Citizens.news)
