Is the UK Digital ID System a Threat to Privacy? __ An Interview With Saeb Sha’ath

A growing number of Britons are pushing back against the proposed digital ID system, warning that it could grant the government unprecedented control over daily life. While ministers argue it will streamline access to services and help tackle illegal employment, critics fear it would open the door to widespread surveillance, data breaches, and the exclusion of people who rely on traditional forms of identification. Political commentator Saeb Sha’ath explores why this debate has intensified, what it reveals about public trust, and how the future of personal privacy in Britain may be reshaped.

1. Why do you think so many Britons view the proposed UK digital ID card as a step toward mass surveillance or increased government control?

The British government may have introduced the idea of the digital ID scheme as a tool to be used to check work eligibility. Nonetheless, since the digital ID scheme’s announcement many high-ranking politicians have made it clear that the initial introduction of the digital ID will be the first step in a wider plan to “shut down the legacy state”, in October 2025 Darren Jones, the UK government minister in charge of introducing the digital ID scheme, told the Cabinet that “we have to build a new state and shut down the legacy state”.

Millions of British people do believe that, government will make the digital ID as a requirement to access most of public and private services such as: tax services and payments, healthcare, childcare, education, and accessing age-restricted services…and many more. Digital ID system will be developed further to become the weapon of choice for many future British governments, in deploying and imposing their interpretation of law and order over the collective society.

2. Public opposition in Britain has grown rapidly, with millions signing petitions. What does this reaction reveal about British attitudes toward national ID systems and privacy?

Many generations of the British people had fought back successfully against identity card schemes, People in Britain has historically rejected countless forms of mandatory ID; the majority sees the digital ID system would make them all reliant on a digital pass to go about their daily lives, people are worried that they will find themselves living in a new era of mass surveillance, who in every step they take are required to prove who they are, in effect turning the UK into a digital checkpoints network. For many years different British Governments and Politicians have tried to convince the British public with digital IDs, as the solution for a range of issues, including countering terrorism, immigration and ending Covid.

British people needless to be reminded with the physical ‘Israeli’ occupation’s Hard iron checkpoints in occupied Palestine, digital checkpoints is the very soft form of that, ‘Israeli’ occupation’s Hard iron checkpoints can be replicated to physical checkpoints if the digital checkpoints enforcers decided at some stage that they are needed.

Millions of British people have serious concerns over the introduction of the digital ID, many believes that a mandatory digital ID scheme would change the nature of their relationship with their state, and it will be shifting more power away from the people and towards the government, turning the UK into a monitored society, while poses a threat to their privacy and their British way of life. Millions signed petition in rejection of the digital ID, its people’s rejection of overbearing authorities and for protecting people’s rights and freedoms.

3.Critics argue that the UK government has not communicated the purpose and safeguards of the digital ID clearly. How important is transparency in gaining public trust in Britain?

Large sector of the British population believes mandatory digital ID would put their personal data at unprecedented risk of data breaches, attracting hackers from all over the world, since a digital ID system would store the data of most of the British population in one giant database on the cloud.

Moreover, majority (63%) of the British people do not trust the Government with keeping their data secure, according to YouGov polling, on that note, the government’s OneLogin system is reported to be susceptible to impersonation. The government did not come up with a convincing argument that a mandatory digital ID scheme, which will cost the taxpayers billions of pounds, will force criminals who breaks employment and immigration law to change their practice.

The result, ordinary people who will suffer the effects of digital ID through privacy intrusions, their civil liberties compromised and suffers security risks. Mandatory digital ID would create new dynamic in the UK, people can be subjected to controls and processes in ways and manners that the politicians of the UK see fit for their governance purposes, the next move might be a licence or a permission and to join a waiting list for every time an individual seek to interact with the state.

4.Many Britons fear that a digital ID could exclude individuals without smartphones or modern technology. How can the UK ensure fair and equal access for all citizens?

Forcing a digital ID on every adult in the UK could mean that a large number of people are excluded from being able freely to participate in society. Elderly people, people with disabilities or people on low income are more than likely to have reduced access to online services, particularly where digital identity is a requirement. People must be assured that they have the right to choose to use physical documents for accessing all government and private services, work, healthcare, banking, finical transaction etc. The UK government should ensure fair and equal access for all citizens, by designing the system with inclusive technologies, while providing physical alternatives and face-to-face support.

5.Some believe the digital ID initiative reflects a broader shift in how the British government handles immigration, security, and personal data. How do you see this fitting into the current political climate in the UK?

The government proposed using digital ID scheme as a means cracking down on illegal hiring practices, employers will require a digital ID for Right to Work checks, and the using of digital ID in immigration enforcement. Meanwhile, mandatory digital ID is unlikely to limit irregular migration, instead it will impact digitally excluded, elderly or disabled people. The plan, presented the government as a tool to combat illegal immigration and modernize access to services, faces strong opposition from civil liberties groups and opposition parties over concerns about surveillance, data security, and potential exclusion.

It should be pointed out that the Labour Party previously said it was not planning such a scheme, moreover, the British PM Starmer should scrap the plan for mandatory digital ID, Starmer has no mandate to force the population to carry digital IDs, the cost to the taxpayers will be few billions. Starmer is reviving tony Blair’s failed scheme during his and G W Bush’s ‘war on terror’, however, today the digital IDs cost to people’s way of life and freedoms would be enormous.

 6.If the UK decides to move forward with digital ID cards despite public resistance, what protections, legal frameworks, or oversight do you believe must be in place to reassure British citizens?

Labour government is at risk of creating a digital surveillance network that will change the British way of life and subject the British population to monitoring and surveillance, whom constantly have to prove who they are as they go about their daily lives. To ease the British public fears and concerns the government introduced the “Data Act”, which is a UK legislation that aims to reshape how individuals and businesses interact with digital data.

It introduces provisions for a national digital identity trust framework, to generate trust in digital identities through ensuring that businesses follow strict standards during digital transactions. Digital ID scheme would make the British people even more attractive targets for local and global criminal hackers, while its known there are frequent problems with the Home Office databases, the UK government should be aiming to enhance security.

Moreover, in areas with poor connectivity or websites has gone down for hours, no digital access, access to all digital services becomes unreachable for everyone, once that happens, people live goes on hold, cannot get work, cannot access education, or healthcare, people are refused the right to rent, due to the failure and inability to prove who they are what is their status when needed. The UK government should solve the no digital access issues first to reassure the public; they won’t be left stranded