Privacy activists warn digital ID won’t stop small boats – but will enable mass surveillance

Big Brother Watch’s “Checkpoint Britain” report warns that a UK national digital ID could create a pervasive “checkpoint society,” enabling mass surveillance, discrimination, and heightened cybersecurity risk, while offering weak evidence for reducing illegal immigration or fraud. The group highlights public distrust, past government IT failures, and alleged weaknesses in the One Login system, cautioning that a “voluntary” scheme could become de facto mandatory and exclude people from essential services without stringent safeguards.