The UK government has announced plans for a digital ID wallet, enabling British citizens to store all government-issued documents on a single location on their smartphones.
However, security experts have raised significant security and privacy concerns around storing so many sensitive documents in a single location.
The new ID wallet is designed to increase the security and convenience of using identification documents for everyday purposes such as proving age and claiming benefits, according to the government.
The digital ID concept also has the potential to become an avenue for privacy abuse and government overreach, if sufficient safeguards are not put in place.
Chris Linnell, Associate Director – Data Privacy at Bridewell, noted that every use of the GOV.UK Wallet will likely leave behind a “digital trail,” with user’s metadata such as the time, location and device used logged. This would create a detailed record of an individual’s movement and activities over time.
notes : This is a serious issue that is rarely discussed. Some countries have already implemented Digital ID like Aadhar in India.
Even the World Bank has encouraged other governments to implement this Digital ID. You can check out the website https://id4d.worldbank.org/