Mandatory Digital ID

Jo White Excerpts

Tuesday 21st October 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jo White (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Turner. Wow, that is a big announcement!

Just over a month ago I visited Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, a country that has been using digital ID for 30 years and a country we can learn from—how it works, how it reaches the digitally excluded and how it protects people’s security. What struck me most was that everyone I spoke to said the same thing: with digital ID, they know exactly what information the Government hold on them, and most importantly, they know who has looked at it and why.

That level of transparency and personal control should be the gold standard, but here it often feels the opposite: social media giants and private companies know more about us than we realise—often more, I would say, than our nearest and dearest. We need to have absolute control.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

It is interesting that my hon. Friend talks about the Estonian experience, as I often hear my constituents’ frustration that they do not know what the Government are doing with their data, and how they even have trouble accessing it. Does my hon. Friend think that a scheme like Estonia’s would help the citizen to be in charge?

[Jo White]

I totally agree with my hon. Friend.

From the moment we are born, the state begins to gather data: our birth is registered; the NHS stores our health records; we are issued with national insurance and NHS numbers; and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs tracks us. By having a digital ID, we can see the information the state holds on us, who has been accessing it and why. We can even determine that other people cannot see our data. It is about us having control over our own data.

It is also about security, because the way it is divided and split up means there is absolute security as nobody can see data from one Department to another. It is about people having personal control, which is what people in my constituency are calling for.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jo White]

I would like to hear some of my hon. Friend’s list, please.

[Emily Darlington]

I am happy to go through it. First, it is not about centralising data. Rather, digital ID allows the citizen to access federated data. The data stays in the individual Departments; it does not stay on a card—this is not about a card. Digital ID adds a level of security to Government datasets. There is no travel or location data. There is no access to external providers. It uses sovereign tech that allows citizens to know what the Government hold and who is accessing it. There is no new data that the Government do not already hold, and a single login is actually better for a person to prove who they are with a digital ID.