- United Kingdom ministers are reportedly considering issuing digital identity IDs to newborns alongside health records, significantly expanding Labor's original digital ID proposal.
- The scheme was initially presented as a way to enforce right-to-work checks and tackle illegal immigration, but could now follow citizens from birth through their entire lives.
- The program is expected to cost £1.8 billion, with Estonia's lifelong digital ID system cited by ministers as a possible blueprint.
- Critics warn digital IDs could centralize sensitive personal, biometric and behavioral data, enabling mass surveillance and potential restrictions on access to essential services.
- Senior Conservatives have condemned the idea as "sinister" and "creeping state surveillance," accusing the government of misleading the public and expanding the policy without proper debate.
Newborn babies could be allocated digital identity cards at birth under plans being discussed privately by ministers.
According to several reports, the United Kingdom government has raised the prospect of issuing digital IDs to children alongside the traditional "red book" of health records given to new parents. The move would represent a significant widening of the digital ID scheme announced by Keir Starmer last September, which was billed as a tool to tackle illegal immigration.
That original proposal would require all job applicants to prove their right to work in the U.K. using digital identification. However, discussions now underway suggest the technology could eventually be embedded from birth and follow citizens throughout their lives.
The digital ID scheme, which is expected to cost £1.8 billion ($2.4 billion), has been aired in a series of private meetings held recently by Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons. Simons has told civil society groups that other countries already operate lifelong digital identity systems that begin at birth.
Estonia, whose system is widely admired by Labor figures and seen as a potential model for the U.K., assigns a unique personal identification number to every child when their birth is registered. That number is then used to access a wide range of public services throughout their life.
Simons has also suggested that teenagers could use digital IDs to verify their age online, including signing in to social media platforms. The idea follows Australia's recent move to ban under-16s from using addictive apps such as TikTok, a policy that ministers in Westminster closely watch.
Since announcing the U.K. scheme, which is expected to be rolled out by the end of the current Parliament in 2028 to 2029, Keir has sought to emphasize its potential everyday benefits. He has argued that digital ID could simplify tasks such as applying for childcare, opening a bank account or accessing public services.
U.K. ministers accused of plotting cradle-to-grave surveillance for newborns
BrightU.AI's Enoch defines digital ID as a government- or corporate-controlled electronic identification system that consolidates personal data, including biometric markers (fingerprints, facial scans), financial records, health status and behavioral metrics into a single, centralized database accessible by authorities. Framed as a tool for "efficiency" and "security," these systems enable real-time surveillance, social credit scoring and the revocation of access to essential services (banking, travel, healthcare) for non-compliance with state or corporate mandates.
All this has sparked warnings of a "sinister" expansion of a controversial government policy.
Mike Wood, the Shadow Cabinet Office minister, said the idea showed the government had gone far beyond its original justification for the policy, which Labor said was aimed at tackling illegal immigration.
"Labor said their plan for mandatory digital ID was about tackling illegal immigration. But now we hear they are secretly considering forcing it on newborns. What do babies have to do with stopping the boats? This would be a deeply sinister overreach by Labour – and all without any proper national debate. This policy is just another distraction from the Government's total inability to deal with the crisis in the Channel. Only the Conservatives have a plan to stop illegal migration – without infringing on the public's rights and freedoms," Wood argued.
Former Conservative Cabinet minister David Davis also launched a blistering attack, describing the idea as "creeping state surveillance."
"The idea that we should allocate children ID at birth is frankly an affront to centuries of British history, and is being put out by stupid ministers who really don't understand the technology they are playing with. They think they are being clever and modern, but a large number of people will be outraged by this. It will end up being hated by a lot of people." he said.
Davis then accused Starmer of selling the policy on what he called the "bogus premise" of tackling illegal immigration, before quietly expanding it without properly informing Parliament. "It's a constitutional disgrace delivered in a disgraceful manner," he said.
Furthermore, an anonymous source revealed to the Daily Mail that the prospect of digital IDs for babies showed the policy had "nothing to do with right-to-work checks, immigration or giving people choices."
"It's a cradle-to-grave digital file being dishonestly forced on every single Briton," the source said.
Watch this video to learn how the digital ID will control your life.
This video is from the Data Dumper channel on Brighteon.com.
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