Announced today, the UK government are rolling back on the exclusivity of its digital ID to prove the right to work in the UK.
The BritCard system announced in September was committed to being made mandatory for Right to Work checks, whilst it was billed as voluntary for everyone else. The government has now styled a U-turn on its main pledge with regards to this ID. Ahead of a public consultation to garner support, the digital ID will not be unique for workers’ checks.
The proposal was met with some controversy for proposing a centralised database of people entitled to live and work in the UK, which critics slammed as being attractive for “enormous hacking targets”. Jonni Brennan, President of the DTIAC, commented on the learnings from BritCard when it was announced, saying “how we build digital trust and identity systems matters as much as whether we build them”.
She said: “These concerns aren’t theoretical. Centralised identity databases have been compromised in multiple jurisdictions, impacting millions of individuals. Once compromised, the consequences include identity theft, widespread fraud, and erosion of public trust that takes years to rebuild”.
On this fresh U-turn, a government spokesperson said: “We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks” for employers, whilst they have had a change of heart about workers, calling it a “tweak” before the first public consultation launches.
