'People's Panel' to check if UK wants controversial Digital ID will cost £630K
- Reference: 1775053394
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/04/01/peoples_panel_digital_id/
- Source link:
Legacy systems blamed as ministers promise no repeat of Afghan breach [2]READ MORE
Frith has revealed further details of how the "People's Panel for Digital ID," announced as part of the consultation on the scheme on March 10, will work in response to a volley of Parliamentary written questions from Conservative MP Alex Burghart and independent MP James McMurdock.
Thousands of households will be invited to take part through what Frith calls "a random postcode lottery," with between 100 and 120 people aged 18 or above selected to make up a "broadly representative sample" of the UK adult population. "No individual can buy their way in or simply turn up at the event," [3]he added .
Recruitment will be run by the Sortition Foundation, a UK-based social enterprise that promotes citizen assemblies, which appear to be the model for the panel. These are groups of people chosen through sortition, a process similar to jury selection but without compulsion, to debate an issue. The Sortition Foundation [4]argues that they can "make trusted decisions that include minority voices while reflecting majority interests and advancing social justice".
The panel's meetings will be run by facilitators from pollster Ipsos, the primary supplier under a £4 million Government Communications Service contract [5]awarded in 2024.
[6]
"The People's Panel will debate how a digital ID can work for everyone. As part of this process, participants will engage with what a digital ID might look like to meet the guiding principles of trusted, useful and inclusive," [7]Frith said .
[8]Starmer's digital ID reboot raises same old questions as its Blair-era ancestor
[9]Whitehall can't cost digital ID until it decides how to build it
[10]Cabinet Office probes digital ID minister over think tank's journalist investigation
[11]UK digital ID goes in-house, government swears it isn't an ID card
He added that participants will be paid "in line with industry standards" so that a wide range of people can attend, with payment based on the number of [12]meetings attended .
Meetings will start in May and conclude by June 21, with the output "weighed alongside the [13]broader consultation feedback to inform the design and delivery of the voluntary digital ID system."
[14]
Meanwhile, former Labour minister Margaret Hodge, now in the House of Lords, has [15]said that the scheme could allow museums to charge international visitors while continuing to let Brits in for free. "Should the recently announced introduction of ID cards achieve universal coverage, it would present a valuable opportunity to revisit the policy of free entry for international visitors to national museums and galleries," Baroness Hodge of Barking wrote in a review of Arts Council England for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published on March 26.
Unlike Hodge, ministers have been at pains to [16]avoid using the phrase "ID cards" when discussing their digital ID plans. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-03-11/119980
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/11/uk_afghan_breach_probe/
[3] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-03-13/120740
[4] https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/about_us
[5] https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/56b6bad1-1742-42a4-aba6-624865ca1d12
[6] 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=2ac1BIii0bAONGA5AM7rWNgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-03-16/121257
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/20/digital_id_consultation/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/11/digital_id_cost/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/18/digital_id_minister_probe/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/digital_id_costs/
[12] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-03-11/119977
[13] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-03-13/120742
[14] 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=44ac1BIii0bAONGA5AM7rWNgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/arts-council-england-an-independent-review-by-baroness-margaret-hodge/arts-council-england-an-independent-review-by-baroness-margaret-hodge#c-tackling-the-arts-and-culture-funding-crisis
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/digital_id_costs/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
It's funny because everyone knows this policy was bought and is already decided and yet they engage in this theatre.
We know they lie, they know they lie, they know we know they lie and they still lie. Russian standard in Britain.
with the output "weighed alongside the broader consultation feedback"
A euphemism for a box ticking exercise - we already know it's coming anyway regardless of who says what, and we already know that Crapita will eventually deliver a half-baked solution way over budget and six years late, in such a way that forces every other government system to have to undertake a complete redesign in order to be able to use it
They will of course call it a success....
Re: with the output "weighed alongside the broader consultation feedback"
It can be an even bigger success if they double the number of PHBs and it arrives 12 years late and too over budget to achieve feature completion.
Re: with the output "weighed alongside the broader consultation feedback"
If it's coming anyway then the later it is, the more successful I will consider it.
Ihren Ausweis, bitte
That is all.
I also note this statement from the article: ""Should the recently announced introduction of ID cards achieve universal coverage....." So it's a done deal is it?
So what is the point in this "consultation" apart from playing some weird theatrical act and of course, relieving the treasury of more taxpayer money.
Re: Ihren Ausweis, bitte
"Should the recently announced introduction of ID cards achieve universal coverage....." So it's a done deal is it?
Your argument does not follow from that statment. "Should the" means IF. You can say that it's a done deal if you wish but that quoted statement does nothing to indicate so.
Buy way into Irelands
If they want one, offer a pile of money to Ireland to buy your way in … as theirs is nearly finished..
https://www.biometricupdate.com/202602/use-of-digital-id-to-access-essential-services-jumps-in-ireland
Some common purpose.
- Common travel area entitlements
- Many dual nationals
- Will be compatible with EU Digital ID schemes
- Won’t reinvent the wheel
- Is already in fucking English
Re: Buy way into Irelands
What about wine and steak and freebies?
Re: Buy way into Irelands
'Is already in fucking English'
Excuse me. The word fecking is used in Ireland.
So, a panel composed of random-ish people who don't understand tech or privacy issues?
> "Unlike Hodge, ministers have been at pains to avoid using the phrase "ID cards" when discussing their digital ID plans."
It's 2026. The word "card" would now be net reassuring to the public if they actually understood what the government hopes to accomplish by making a government smartphone app near-required to live a modern life, as private business has successfully done.
"People's Panel"?
ROFL, they will find a not-random sampling of people who don't understand privacy or tech, who will hear a guided presentation of what they're supposed to hear, and reach the predetermined "correct" conclusion. That's nearly inevitable whenever uneducated and/or misinformed people, lacking relevant professional experience, are given a short amount of time to parse a deeply complex issue. It all comes down to the presenter, and in this case, the audience doesn't understand the privacy settings or checkbox agreements on their own phones.
That tilted conclusion can then be marketed to others looking for something easy to agree with.
People's Panel
Isn't that called a Soviet?
Re: So, a panel composed of random-ish people who don't understand tech or privacy issues?
You may be correct about the final outcome but your conclusion is based on your initial bias. "they will find a not-random sampling of people who don't understand privacy or tech" says whom?
hooray
finally, we have legitimate justifications for digital id:
1) to stop international visitors getting into museums free ...
2) err ... anyone got a second?
Re: hooray
Is it really going to stop them? People can tap for someone else or use social engineering to get in anyway. I doubt volunteers and minimum wage workers will care about entry rules.
Re: hooray
That's a few percent, at most. The typical international visitor either buys museum tickets online after getting funneled in by a review/comparison site, or impulsively buys at gate when out walking around being a tourist.
If most people were of a social engineering, loophole finding, critical thinking type mindset, then we wouldn't be discussing whether we're OK with government infecting our smartphones with identity software in exchange for...free or discounted museum tickets? Pretty low price, eh?
Re: hooray
Should the recently announced introduction of ID cards achieve universal coverage, it would present a valuable opportunity to revisit the policy of free entry for international visitors to national museums and galleries
Seems she doesn't know many places will give you free or reduced entry if you present a utility or council tax bill showing you're a resident in the county...?
Wants
Can't they just phone Larry and get the answer?
It doesn't matter what British public wants. Larry wants, Larry gets.
Re: Wants
Larry is the only true representative of the people in number ten.
He says DID is a dud.
Having saved the country 650k, Larry asks for nothing more than a few Felix cat treats in recognition of his years of service, and his tolerating buffoons, lunatics, idiots in his home.
Get the opinion you want!!
Ask the questions in the right order to get the answer you want.
Yes, Prime Minister covered the issue years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahgjEjJkZks
That tilted conclusion can then be marketed to others looking for something easy to agree with.
Yep. Charge those foreigners! Not in a traditional Empire building sense, with bayonets fixed*, but-
Meanwhile, former Labour minister Margaret Hodge, now in the House of Lords, has said that the scheme could allow museums to charge international visitors while continuing to let Brits in for free.
Err.. Yey? This is the best a senil.. I mean senior Labour figure can come up with to justify spaffing billions on an app? ISTR Reading had their own card scheme that was used for library membership & museums. Other places just asked to see a Council Tax statement. But then a lot of regional museums it was a case of visit once and done. Go pet the concrete cows, learn a bit about MK's rich history. Or when I had international visits, taking them to see the London museums. So I.. don't entirely see the benefit or cost justification, especially when charging tourists might just discourage visitors.
* Well, some 'Londoners' kinda emulate that with London's museums and other tourist attractions being prime locations for muggers. Visit London, leave with an interesting scar and memories of our famous Oxford Street shopping experience..
Consultation
I hope the UK readers haven't confined their Digital ID vitriol to these Reg forums and have all taken the time to pollute the consultation with it too. I found mine quite cathartic.
So you have to go during work hours and undoubtedly have to travel to London or close by and it's voluntary so anyone who can't afford to travel or take time off is basically automatically excluded. Talk about selection bias.