UK digital ID proposal implies issuance to teens, govt botches the message again
📄 Article Content
# UK digital ID proposal implies issuance to teens, govt botches the message again
Good luck winning trust if you can’t explain who’s affected
Oct 10, 2025, 1:08 pm EDT | Chris Burt
Categories Biometrics News | Civil / National ID | Government Services
A strange round of controversy has arisen in the UK, as public debate begins with stakeholders and the media coming to terms with what has been announced, and what remains unclear.
PM Keir Starmer announced a plan last week to require all employment in the UK to be conditional on having a national digital ID, as a means of deterring immigration. The policy clearly implies that teenagers must have the digital ID to work legally.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) wrote in its response to a petition demanding the digital ID proposal be withdrawn that the credential is intended for “UK citizens and legal residents aged 16 and over (although we will consider through consultation if this should be age 13 and over).”
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was questioned in a media interview about the possible inclusion of children 13 through 15 years old in the mandatory digital identity plan, and suggested it is no big deal.
“Lots of 13-year-olds already do [have a form of digital ID], and what the department is going to be consulting on is exactly how that should be taken forward,” Cooper said, as quoted by the BBC.
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for science, innovation and technology Victoria Collins called it proof of mission creep, and said that “It’s frankly sinister, unnecessary, and a clear step towards state overreach.”
Starmer is calling for a national debate, as he recognizes (perhaps belatedly) that the government must convince people of the “huge benefits” he says it will deliver, according to the Independent. His comments came during a visit to India, during which he has praised Aadhaar and met with one of its chief architects.
The outlet cites polling from More in Common indicati