UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards

Concerns about Authoritarianism and Free Speech

• Many see digital ID as another tool for an increasingly intrusive UK state: frequent references to arrests over social media posts, policing of protests, and broad hate/communications laws.
• Disagreement over how bad things are: some think cases are exaggerated by selective video clips and far‑right figures; others cite “milquetoast” prosecutions and Palestine-related arrests as chilling.
• Fears that combining digital ID with the Online Safety Act will make it trivial to deanonymise online speech and link every account to a real identity.

Trust in Government vs. Technical Merits

• Several posters say a digital ID could be beneficial (less paperwork, better fraud prevention, simpler access to services, help for people without passports/driver’s licences).
• But they explicitly “do not trust the UK government” to implement it without mission creep, abuse, or shoddy security; past legislation and policing are the core objection, not the idea in isolation.
• Other countries’ systems (Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, Brazil) are cited as working well, but many argue those societies have stronger safeguards, higher institutional trust, or written constitutions.

Centralisation, Surveillance, and Single Points of Failure

• Worries about creating an easy way to correlate all databases (tax, welfare, banking, health, policing), making “turnkey totalitarianism” more feasible.
• Cyber risk is a major theme: a central ID (or badly integrated ecosystem) becomes an attractive national‑scale target; some argue fragmentation and inefficiency currently act as de‑facto protection.
• Fear that digital ID will become de‑facto mandatory, phone‑only, and tied to Apple/Google platforms.

Immigration and Illegal Work Justification

• Deep scepticism that digital ID will meaningfully curb illegal working: employers already must check right‑to‑work, and bad actors simply ignore the rules or use intermediaries.
• Some see immigration framing as political cover: a way to sell a long‑desired ID system and paint opponents as “pro‑illegal immigration.”

Comparisons to Social Credit and Broader Controls

• A vocal subset explicitly links digital ID to Chinese‑style social credit, CBDCs, movement controls, and “15‑minute city” fears; others call this a red herring but concede the technical possibility.
• UK credit scoring is noted as an existing “proto social credit” for financial life, though not yet tied to political behaviour.

Democracy, Petitions, and Political Context

• Many are cynical about petitions; earlier large petitions (e.g. against the Online Safety Act) were ignored.
• Labour is criticised for pursuing ID after attacking the Conservatives for similar ideas, and for prioritising this over cost‑of‑living and public services.
• Some argue focusing on ID and immigration mainly strengthens more hardline parties (e.g. Reform) and further erodes trust.