More than 2.8 million Brits have signed a petition as of Wednesday, calling on the U.K. government to reverse its mandatory Digital ID system over concerns it will lead to “mass surveillance and digital control.”

The ID program, dubbed “Brit Card” and announced last week by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is set to be rolled out by August 2029 in an attempt by the Labour government to crack down on illegal immigration as it would bar anyone who doesn’t have a digital ID from working in the U.K.

But critics of the plan argue its effects on illegal immigration will not be significant enough to make up for the privacy concerns it poses. 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives his speech during the Labour Party conference at ACC Liverpool on Sept. 30, 2025 in Liverpool, England.  ( Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

“We care deeply about personal freedom in ways that other countries don’t think about it, and generally speaking, individuals don’t want the federal government in their business every day,” Starr explained in reference to the American public. “The fear that people have about digital identity is that it’s a surveillance opportunity.”

Starr explained that some are concerned that any time a digital ID is used, it will then alert or “phone home” a government tracking system – a concern that privacy advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU have flagged.

“It’s not about the technology, but managing fear and managing what actually gets deployed,” he added, noting that safeguards can be put in place to counter these concerns.

Even though there is no federal version of a digital ID, more than a dozen states have already begun issuing mobile driver’s licenses.

A federal version of a digital ID would, in theory, just include an individual’s information that the government already has access to, including details like passport information.

But there’s another major concern people flag when it comes to digital IDs – how to ensure personal information is protected from identity theft, which has become a major concern in recent years amid mass cyber breaches.

A person scans and downloads an app to start the process of converting their physical driver license to an official digital version to be stored on a mobile phone at a Harmons Grocery store on Aug. 4, 2021 in Salt Lake City, Utah.   (George Frey/Getty Images)

According to Starr, the “architecture of digital identity” is different from centralized databases used by institutions like hospitals, which have found themselves vulnerable to cyber-attacks and data breaches.

Decentralized systems, as in the case of a digital ID, make hacking “nearly impossible” because “the only way to hack a million IDs is to hack a million phones,” he explained. 

 “There are solutions. It’s not a technology issue, it’s an education issue, it’s a fear issue,” Starr said. “It’s also poorly conceived solutions that open the door for bad behavior.”