this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
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I appreciate a lot will come down to the implementation, but I haven't understood the proposal to at all guarantee that checking the ID will require some online check. This is meant to be a ubiquitous ID that we can use anywhere. Would businesses really accept having to use an ID that might not work if there's a spotty data connection?
My read of it is that it's intended, in most cases, to work like a railcard or digital bus pass does currently in the UK. Not unlike showing someone your driver's licence, only the image of it on your phone is guaranteed to be valid rather than needing a specific physical card.
There are a lot of "ifs" and mostly potential downsides. So what are the benefits to this?
Have you ever had issues paying with your credit card due to a spotty data connection? Why would that be an issue with scanning your ID? Especially if the government forces businesses to do this.
Well yeah, that's to begin with. But it also gives a lot of potential for further surveillance, and for what benefits? Do the benefits really outweigh the cons? Especially when the world is turning fascist? I don't think so.
How many times have you gone "oh damn I wish it was easier proving my identity than showing my passport or driving licence"?
I think there are some genuine benefits to be had (though reducing illegal immigration is obviously not one of them). I do think there's potential for a much simpler ID system. One that includes people that don't drive, and doesn't include giving your address to a stranger via your driver's license.
I have had issues with using cards in poor network areas, yes. It seems totally improbable to me that this system ends up using an exclusively online process for sharing ID.
Sure there's potential that this will result in a mass surveillance system, and I obviously don't want that, but I guess it doesn't feel particularly novel. If you're paying by card you're logging all your payments anyway. The question on my mind is where you currently see government overreach with exising IDs? Why would a new form of ID guarantee any of that changing?
On your last question, I genuinely do hate handing over either of the existing IDs, as they do carry more information than the receiver generally needs.