Experts warned that our data will never be safe, as the UK government plans to launch Digital IDs for all citizens in the UK. The move has received harsh criticism due to a series of recent data attacks that leaked official government contacts, email accounts, staff addresses, and passwords.
Why Digital IDs?
The rolling out of IDs means that digital identification will become mandatory for right-to-work checks in the UK by the end of this Parliament session. It aims to stop the illegal migrants from entering the UK, according to Keir Starmer, the UK's Prime Minister, also stressing that the IDs will prevent illegal working.
Experts, however, are not optimistic about this, as cyberattacks on critical national infrastructure, public service providers, and high street chains have surged. They have urged the parliament to ensure security and transparency when launching the new ID card scheme.
According to former UK security and intelligence coordinator and director of GCHQ David Omand, the new plan will offer benefits, but it has to be implemented carefully.
Benefits of Digital IDs
David Omand, former UK security and intelligence coordinator and director of GCHQ, said the scheme could offer enormous benefits, but only if it is implemented securely, as state hackers will try to hack and disrupt.
To prevent this, the system should be made securely, and GCHQ must dedicate time and resources to robust implementation. The digital IDs would be on smartphones in the GOV.UK’s wallet app and verified against a central database of citizens having the right to live and work in the UK.
Risk with Digital IDs
There is always a risk of stolen data getting leaked on the dark web. According to an investigation by Cyjax, more than 1300 government email-password combinations, addresses, and contact details were accessed by threat actors over the past year. This is what makes the Digital ID card a risk, as the privacy of citizens can be put at risk.
The UK government, however, has ensured that these digital IDs are made with robust security, secured via state-of-the-art encryption and authentication technology.
According to PM Starmer, this offers citizens various benefits like proving their identity online and control over how data is shared and with whom.
