Digital ID must not deepen exclusion

Why millions of people in the UK remain digitally excluded

Digital exclusion is not a fringe issue. Around 1.7 million households are offline and almost 4.5 million adults do not own a smartphone, rising to more than one in four among the over-75s. In addition, at least 11 million adults across the UK lack the essential digital skills needed to complete basic tasks such as setting up an email account.

For these groups, a mandatory digital ID system creates a new barrier to participation in an increasingly digital society. If digital ID becomes the standard route into healthcare, pensions, welfare, or education, exclusion risks being baked into the very systems people rely on to survive.

Trust and fear also play a significant role in digital exclusion, particularly as confidence in both central and local government is often low among people who have been let down at moments of vulnerability.

For these groups, the existing push to online public services is already creating anxiety and resistance, alongside concerns about how their data will be used and automated decision-making.

Around 4% of the UK population do not have access to a smartphone, yet this new system assumes that people can afford and competently use one. While an offline alternative has been referenced, it is still expected to be digitally powered – leaving many questions about how those who are digitally excluded will access public services.

How digital ID could unintentionally create new barriers

While digital ID is intended to streamline access to services, it could unintentionally create new obstacles for people already facing disadvantage. One of the most immediate challenges is documentation.

Proof of identity, even for a digital ID, is unclear for those who lack a passport, driving licence, or other official paperwork. This not only creates uncertainty but leaves many unsure how they would obtain a digital ID in the first place.  

There are, in addition, practical concerns about where people are expected to get help. Digital inclusion, while referenced, is not defined within current government consultation documents. Parliamentary debates have pointed to Post Offices and libraries as places where people can get support, in line with the One Login single sign-on system.

However, with libraries closing down every year, and hundreds shifting to volunteer-led services with shorter hours, many of these community assets are being lost. Individuals, particularly in rural areas, must still travel to these locations - which is not digital inclusion in its true sense. And even the in-person One Login option requires an email address, something many digitally excluded people do not have.

These barriers disproportionately affect people on low incomes, older adults, disabled people and those in rural areas. Without tailored support, a one-size-fits-all digital ID system risks failing all of them.

What government and industry need to do to ensure essential services remain accessible

Government and industry have a shared responsibility to ensure digital public services strengthen participation rather than deepen exclusion.

Essential services must remain accessible through multiple routes, not just digital ones, including face to face, telephone and hard copy. Such alternatives must be clearly communicated and well-supported for people who may lack the documentation, devices or digital skills.

Physical identity documents must remain a fully recognised option for right-to-work checks and other essential public and private sector services, without a default to digital.

And any new digital ID systems must also be built with inclusivity at their core. This means implementing inclusive design principles and making sure that people who experience accessibility barriers - like those for whom English is an additional language, older adults and individuals with disabilities - are involved in shaping the system.

Owning a device is not digital inclusion - the access, skills and confidence to use online services may still be out of reach, even for someone with a smartphone. Without this confidence, modernisation can too easily become exclusion by design. This can only come through the proper funding to ensure that local services – the community groups and local public services that provide face to face help – are there to walk people through new services in their towns and villages, regularly and sustainably, not as a one-off. But this help cannot replace access at home.

Security and transparency are equally important as people need clear assurances about security and how their data will be used and stored. Without this, trust in digital ID will remain fragile.

As discussion on digital IDs continues, one principle should be clear. Unless genuine inclusion focused at the individual level is built from the start, digital ID risks deepening the very inequalities it aims to overcome. The conversation can’t simply be about introducing new technology, it must be about ensuring equal access to devices, data and in-person support.

Digital innovation throughout government has an enormous potential to strengthen participation but only if everyone can take part. It’s not about the sophistication of the technology, it’s about whether the technology is bringing more people in or leaving more people behind.

Elizabeth Anderson is CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance.