A mob of Sir Keir Starmers surrounded Parliament today to put pressure on decision-makers inside the House of Commons debating bringing in mandatory Digital IDs.
Protestors from the Big Brother Watch, a UK civil liberties campaign group, marched around Parliament Square, wearing masks of Starmer’s face, holding placards of what a Digital ID would look like on your smartphone.
Today, Parliament is set to debate the introduction of Digital ID cards after a petition with 3,000,000 signatures demanded a halt to the initiative.
The protesters say they are fighting for a free future, determined to reclaim the public’s privacy and defend freedoms.
Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, told Metro: ‘Nobody’s voted for this initiative. And now we have the fourth biggest petition in British history.
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‘It’s the second biggest petition in British history that’s a non-Brexit petition, so this is something that has completely engaged and enraged the public.’
One key argument against Digital IDs includes the concerns surrounding privacy.
Matthew Feeney, advocacy manager of Big Brother Watch, told Metro: ‘The Digital ID would house troves of personal information that could be used or mandated by government for a whole swathe of public services.
‘That’s a concern for us, not just because we think it changes the relationship citizens have with the state in a very bad way, but also because it becomes an attractive target for foreign adversaries and criminal hackers.
‘The current government has a very, very bad track record when it comes to keeping data safe.’
Silkie described Digital IDs as the ‘antithesis of privacy’, where ‘our phones would be turned into potentially spy phones where we carry a digital pass in order to live our everyday lives.’
As they marched around the parliament building to Victoria Tower Gardens with their placards and masks, several people were cheering for their message, saying that they hate the initiative.
There were even a few laughs from people amused by the group of Keir Starmers.
Another issue raised by the group is that some people are ‘digitally excluded’ whether it is because of economic circumstances or by choice.
The government has not yet announced how it will mandate the scheme if people do not have the devices that work with the technology.
When the idea was announced, the government said it would be for used for right to work checks.
Silkie and the group believe it is a lie.
She told Metro: ‘This is an expansive, sprawling system that could be the beginning of a very intrusive surveillance system.’
‘If we live in a democracy, then the government will listen and we are hoping very much that’s the case.’
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