Response to the UK's Call for Evidence on Digital Identity

The UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, along with Government Digital Services, made a Call for Evidence on Digital Identity.

In our response, Privacy International reiterated the need for a digital identity system to have a clear purpose, in this case to enable people to prove their identity online to access services. We highlighted the dangers of some forms of ID (like relying on a centralised database, unique ID numbers, or the use of biometrics). The submission stressed the dangers of data exploitation of the companies involved, and examined some of the safeguards that could be in place to prevent this.