Cabinet Office and DSIT responsible for digital ID rollout

The UK government has announced that the Cabinet Office will have overall responsibility for policy development, legislation, and strategic oversight of the new digital identity scheme. The Cabinet Office will collaborate with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which is tasked with the technical design, build, and delivery of the scheme, alongside other government departments.

In related news, ITV News reports Prime Minister Keir Starmer has addressed concerns over the digital ID, seeking to dispel what Number 10 describes as misinformation about the policy. Starmer insisted the digital ID, which will be stored on smartphones, will not be used for mass surveillance, tracking citizens' lives, or evolving into a social scoring system akin to China's Social Credit System.

Responding to fears about future expansion to track personal habits, Starmer dismissed these as "false rumours," assuring the public that the scheme contains only basic identification data. He went on to confirm that the limits and controls of the digital ID would be set out and voted on in primary legislation by Parliament.

In a statement responding to Keir Starmer’s digital ID plans, Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch, said: "Keir Starmer has already lost the public’s trust on digital IDs. Within hours of the Prime Minister selling the mandatory national ID scheme to the public on the basis of tackling illegal working, government documents emerged touting sprawling uses for digital IDs in our everyday lives and even suggested they could be rolled out to children.

"The Prime Minister’s promises about a limited digital ID will not wash. The only way to safeguard the public’s privacy and right to choose is to reject plans for a mandatory digital ID, as millions of people have petitioned the Prime Minister to do."

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