Mandatory Digital ID Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Roz Savage
Main Page: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)Department Debates - View all Roz Savage's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
(2 days ago)
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Dr Roz Savage (South Cotswolds) (LD)
I have three key questions. Will ID cards reduce illegal work? Probably not. Secondly, what price are we willing to pay for convenience? This seems a very high one. Thirdly, should we wonder when a prominent advocate of digital ID receives large donations from silicon valley, which has already shown a blasé attitude to personal data?
Meanwhile, we are looking at high opportunity costs; potential hacks and attacks on our personal data; and a card that starts out voluntary but rapidly becomes mandatory in all but name. Above all, there is the question of trust: a future Government could easily repurpose a digital ID scheme as a tool of surveillance or control. That is precisely why this country abandoned compulsory ID cards in 1952. The Liberal Democrats believe that technology should serve citizens, not monitor them.