Opinion Last week's UK government consultation on its plans for digital identity had quite a few things missing. It did not include a [1]price estimate - something it said was due to decisions yet to be taken on the scheme's scope - or how long the government would keep "audit trail" records of ID checks.

The consultation mentions audit trails will support the enforcement of right-to-work checks. When Tony Blair's Labour government introduced ID cards in the 2000s, audit trails of when, where, and how people used the scheme had a different purpose. Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke argued the move would make life harder for terrorist suspects. "They have to find roundabout ways to stay in hotels, hire cars, buy mobile phones, and generally carry out their activities," he wrote in a 2005 regulatory impact assessment, albeit for what was planned as a compulsory scheme.

Initially, Brits are unlikely to use Sir Keir Starmer's digital ID scheme more than once or twice a year – it will launch covering right-to-work checks and possibly vehicle tax, and remains optional after the prime minister [2]U-turned on mandating it for new employees. But as its uses expand, the audit trail it generates will draw growing interest from both law enforcement and privacy campaigners - offering, for instance, a timestamped map of every pub a young person visited on a Friday night.

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How long the scheme will hold audit trail entries is something that MPs and Lords should examine when the government legislates later this year.

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The consultation discusses what alternatives it could offer to digital IDs held on people's smartphones. Estonia's compulsory identity system, for example, lets citizens choose how they use it, with around two-thirds having a physical smartcard, half using a smartphone app, and a fifth having a special SIM card that works with any type of mobile.

The UK government seems wedded to smartphones, an odd stance given it is simultaneously consulting on [6]restricting under-16s' use of social media delivered mostly through smartphones, following pressure from campaigners, opposition parties, and backbenchers. Building a digital ID scheme around a technology increasingly blamed for shortening attention spans and worsening mental health in adults, as well as children, looks inconsistent at best.

[7]Whitehall can't cost digital ID until it decides how to build it

[8]UK digital ID brief quietly moves to new minister after resignation

[9]UK digital ID goes in-house, government swears it isn't an ID card

[10]UK backtracks on digital ID requirement for right to work

The consultation suggests lots of possible future uses for digital ID, including applications for help with childcare costs, student loans, benefits, state pensions and bus passes. It again refers to Estonia, which offers child benefits to new parents automatically when they register a birth. The Baltic country also uses its battery of digital services to [11]cut bureaucracy for businesses , allowing locals and foreigners with digital ID to establish companies online in a few hours. The UK consultation focuses on increased responsibilities for businesses, such as digital right-to-work checks and setting up point-of-sale systems to check smartphone IDs.

In 2002, Blair's government tried using the name "citizen entitlement cards" before it went back to calling them identity cards. Cabinet Office minister Darren Jones, in a press conference last week, presented digital ID as a " [12]deeply political " Labour project, walking in the footsteps of the National Health Service, the Open University, and Sure Start centers, that would support equality of access to public services to those with less time and confidence.

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Making it such a Labour-flavored project means, however, it is less likely to retain support if any other party gets into power.

This government wants the scheme in operation by the time of the next general election, probably in 2029. Unless Labour wins that election, digital ID risks [14]sharing the fate of its Blair-era predecessor. ®

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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/11/digital_id_cost/

[2] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/14/uk_digital_id_climbdown/

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ab0ozxgPV5-Mpv4aXk8YoQAAAo4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ab0ozxgPV5-Mpv4aXk8YoQAAAo4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/16/starmer_social_media/

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/11/digital_id_cost/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/04/new_digital_identity_minister/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/digital_id_costs/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/14/uk_digital_id_climbdown/

[11] https://investinestonia.com/business-in-estonia/establishing-company/process

[12] https://www.publictechnology.net/2026/03/12/government-and-politics/minister-we-are-continuing-the-proud-labour-tradition-by-building-modern-digital-public-services/

[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ab0ozxgPV5-Mpv4aXk8YoQAAAo4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[14] https://www.theregister.com/2011/02/10/id_cards_trashed/

[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/