Digital Personal ID introduction in UK – Will It Really Help Control Illegal Immigration ?

There has been much talk in the press and on social media recently about the Government’s intention to roll out electronic digital personal identification  (eID) in the UK.

As yet, the fine detail of the eIDs themselves, and the process of their implementation, hasn’t been presented. Reading between the lines, I suspect the leadership are wary of imposing yat another far-reaching measure in their usual 'bull in a china shop' fashion, and are testing the water before revealing any concrete plans or timescales. 

Here are some thoughts regarding the practicability and implications of such a scheme, assuming that the end result is some sort of smartphone-based personal ID product.

First, let’s consider its desirability for the average UK citizen.

We are told that a personal ID card will assist us in allowing quicker access to all manner of benefits and other state provisions, as well as removing the cumbersome requirements for paper documents that are needed to prove ID and residential address at present. 

That could indeed be the case, but we seem to have managed with the old paper system for many years.  Most people do have access to either a passport or a driving licence, and can provide some form of address confirmation unless they are actually homeless. Indeed, the application for one of the new digital IDs will in itself require some form of proof of ID and residence, so everyone will have to present these at some point during the rollout process to qualify. 

Presumably any new immigrants to the UK who do not hold UK passports will also be required to prove their ID; this will of course be difficult for most illegals, who will have purposely destroyed any form of previous ID at the direction of their traffickers before boarding their small boat. It will be interesting to see whether the Border Force will be asked to detain and then deport such individuals, if and when they present themselves or are otherwise challenged.

The other side of the coin, of course, is a fierce natural resistance to being required to ‘present one’s papers’ that we Brits have traditionally displayed in the past. Surmounting this hurdle will be a difficult task for any government that tries to 'usurp' our right to personal anonymity when out and about…let alone this one. The ever-unpopular Starmer is currently shying away from making it a legal requirement to present a digital ID when requested by the authorities, the only exception being when the individual starts a new employment. There are already fears, though, that once the system has been introduced, such a general requirement will quietly be introduced to the statute books, and we will all be liable to present ID if required to, or face arrest. A police state would then beckon....

What about the inherent risks of entrusting our unique ID to a smartphone, whether or not the scheme actually becomes compulsory ?

In my view, these are quite substantial. The media are currently highlighting the sharp increase in phone thefts that has occurred in recent months, particularly in London. What’s more, there is good evidence that the principal motivation for the thieves is not the price they can get for the stolen handsets themselves, but the value of the data we store on them.

Many of us (rather unwisely in my view) store virtually all of our current 'lifestyle data' on these devices, including banking apps, crypto-currency wallets and all manner of other key ID and password-containing apps, any or all of which could render us bankrupt in the wrong hands, literally within minutes of a theft. 

Quite apart from the enormoous inconvenience and trauma of having to recover from losing your 'passport to life' in this way, banks are reluctant to compensate for financial losses, and any personal info such as treasured photos that are lost with the phone may be irreplaceable. It is frankly amazing to me that so many people make no attempt at backing-up their phone data, and are happy to use these devices unprotected when out and about with very little thought to their vulnerability…until it’s too late, and they are the hands of one of the any electric bike-mounted phone thieves currently roving around our cities, seemingly completely unchallenged by the authorities.

All this begs the question of what would happen to one’s personal digital eID if we adopt a similar scheme to the one the Swiss population have just narrowly approved, where the digital ID is unique to a single device. What would happen to our eID 'passport' if the phone it's on got stolen ?

Would we be able to cancel the original ID and request another one, as we do when losing a credit or debit card ? And how would we prove who we were in order to do so ? 

ID theft generally has mushroomed in recent years and phone-based digital IDs will make life even easier for the criminals, particularly if the phone gets stolen when it’s open (i.e. its screen passwording is unlocked), as is often the case during a snatch. Smartphone-based ID is perhaps not such a clever idea then, when you think about it…..

And will it actually help control immigration ?

The short answer to the question in the title of this article is: “…probably not…”. Here's why....

The black economy in UK is positively thriving at present (far more so, sadly, than the 'white' one if Reeves is to be believed), and the authorities seem to be able to do little to control it. This is primarily due to a complete lack of the resources that would be needed to even start tackling it effectively. It's a sad fact that some of our cities are already virtual ‘no-go’ areas for the trading standards officers who are expected to police it, and even for the local police themselves. This state of lawlessness is particularly rampant in so-called ‘ghettoised’ areas where organised crime run by foreign nationals has a strong hold on the community, who will thus not dare to report crime for fear of reprisals. Many of our illegals are trafficked by such individuals specifically to work in the black economy for little or no wages. Sadly, these modern-day slaves are regarded by their ‘masters’ as expendable 'mules' for drug sales, money laundering, etc., and will continue to work as modern slaves with no regard for any new legal ID requirements, as will their 'employers'.

The only 'plus' as far as immigration control is concerned is the greater opportunity they might present to control acess to our remaining universal benefits, particularly healthcare. One of the 'draws' of the UK for migrants currently sitting in their camps on the French coast is that the French welfare system requires a valid ID card to access any benefits in France...these are at present uncontrolled in UK. We might do well to tighten up our benefits access accordingly, so as to eliminate this particular attraction for illegals. We might thereby reduce both the benefits bill and the overcrowding that currently besets our NHS.

Whether eID introduction will actually help compensate for the current government's so far lamentable record on tackling the 'immigration problem' is very much open to question. One thing is certain - the public have had enough....the latest debacle featuring the accidental release of a convicted ex-small boat sex offender is virtually the 'last straw' and is attracting much criticism. Lammy is seething with rage over the issue...as well he should as Justice Minister......

When and How ?

Digital IDs are coming, without a doubt, but the message at present is a clear one….don’t rush to subscribe to any new voluntary scheme that appears just for the sake of it…there’s too much risk involved in early adoption. If digital ID does ever becomes compulsory for anything other than proving work entitlement, by that time it is to be hoped that sufficient safeguards will have evolved to make the process less hazardous. We may also have managed to rid our streets of some of the odious parasites involved in organised phone theft and now living very nicely off our own inattention.

Looking at the potential problems to come, I can't help wondering whether a better solution for protecting something as valuable as a unique personal eID might be to keep it away from our smartphones altogether, and employ some other electronic means for storing and presenting it. 

A few years back, in the days before OTP texts came into general use for verification of online banking login, some banks started supplying small digital devices to their account holders which were designed to generate codes to enable access to their accounts online. Similar devices could be mass-produced cheaply and issued with unique personal IDs already embedded in their memories. This would only need to be presented occasionally, so would not need to be carried at all times. They could also be equipped with biometric access 'keys' such that they were useless to anyone but the individual themselves. This would solve the smartphone theft vulnerability problem, and avoiding disenfranchising anyone who did not possess a working smartphone which was modern enough to accomodate the new technology. It would also discourage forgeries, since the data could also be encrypted to prevent tampering. Embedded RFID could be used for easy physical verification of ID at borders, etc, thus obviating the need for a paper passport. Worth considering as an option, I would have thought....

Some advice for 'on the hoof' phone users

In the meantime, for anyone who hasn't yet been a victim of the phone theft scourge, I'd advise the following precautions: 

1) Take a good look at your data backup strategy, and esure you maintain copies of anything irreplaceable elsewhere.

2) Remove any 'vulnerable' apps you don't actually need on the phone - or at least think about transferring them to a 2nd device reserved for financial transactions which you can leave at home; most financial operations can be left to complete at home rather than 'on the hoof'.

3) Make sure you've implemented a screen password lock; this will make it more difficult for the thief to gain access quickly and empty your accounts, and may even deter them from bothering to try.

4) Be aware of what's going on around you at all times when using your phone 'out and about'; try not to use it until you find somewhere you can do so more privately.

5) Keep a separate written record of any ID and password details you'll need to help clear up the mess if the phone does get stolen or lost. 

By doing all this, you stand a better chance of not falling victim, and even if you do, you'll have less to lose, and the clear-up process should be a bit less traumatic for you...and those around you.  

One positive in all this is the likelihood that Starmer will decide to push for rapid implementation in the hope of being seen to be doing something about immigration….and make himself and his government even more unpopular than they are now, in the process. Another ‘nail in the coffin’ for 2029, perhaps ?

We can but hope…..

First published 8.10.25; Revised 25.10.25