Overview
- The app-based credential will sit on smartphones and include a person’s name, date of birth, nationality or residency status, and a photograph for verification.
- Officials say the requirement will initially apply only to right‑to‑work checks, with ministers acknowledging potential future uses have been discussed by some.
- Public pushback has grown quickly, with more than two million signatures on a petition and civil liberties groups warning about privacy, security risks and digital exclusion.
- Attorney General Lord Richard Hermer argued the IDs will probably hold less personal data than typical online cookies, as the Prime Minister maintains the move will deter illegal working.
- A government consultation later this year will explore non-digital alternatives and face-to-face support, and the Post Office is examining branch-based help for digital ID services.