MPs maul digital ID plans in Parliamentary debate

Data security

Labour MP Rebecca Long Bailey also queried the data security involved in the digital ID scheme. “The real fear here is that we will be building an infrastructure that can follow us, link our most sensitive information and expand state control over all our lives. The minister must understand why people are concerned,” she said.

“This policy does not arrive in a vacuum. It sits alongside a worrying pattern: the accelerated roll-out of facial recognition, attempts to weaken end-to-end encryption, and data laws that strip away privacy protections.”

She added that the UK government does not have a good track record of keeping data safe, with numerous cyber incidents having taken place this year alone.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn echoed this sentiment, and called the digital ID scheme an “attack on civil liberties”, saying: “There is a huge issue here about our data, our information and our privacy, which we would do well to remember.”

However, in response to the allegations that the system would be easily hacked and that the data would not be safe, Cabinet Office parliamentary secretary Josh Simons said the government is “not creating a centralised master database”, adding: “The new system will be federated. Specifically, that means that there will be strict legal firewalls on what information can be shared where and a strong principle of data minimisation. People will have more control over their data in this system than they have now, because people will be able actively to control what information is shared about them and by whom.”

MPs also raised concerns around costs. The current figure for the digital ID scheme expenditure stands at around £1.8bn – money which, according to minister for digital government and data Ian Murray, will come from existing funds - although Department for Science, Innovation and Technology permanent secretary Emran Mian last week claimed the government "does not recognise" the figure of £1.8bn. 

Conservative MP Sarah Bool said that her constituents were concerned about the cost to the taxpayer being “prohibitive”, adding: “The Office for Budget Responsibility [OBR] has said that there has been no specific funding identified for the scheme, and it is forecast to cost £1.8bn over the next three years. We have a government drowning in Budget leaks and accidentally releasing prisoners left, right and centre, so how can they be trusted to create a system of ID?”

The government is due to launch a public consultation in the new year on the digital ID scheme, and Simons said this would include a “massive inclusion drive” and give people the opportunity to say how they would like to use a digital identity.

“I want to build a system that helps people with the daily struggles they tell us about, not the system that Whitehall thinks is best,” he said. “There will be legislation establishing the credential, on which Parliament will vote. Parliament will control what this credential can be used for. We will establish a clear legal framework to prevent scope creep. Our goal is to make life easier for people and give people more security and control over their data than they have now.”

The digital identity industry has also called for clarity on the plans, saying the uncertainty surrounding the scheme risks market stability and weakens trust across the digital ecosystem.