Sign the Open Letter: Stop Using Veterans as Guinea Pigs for Digital ID

An Open Letter to the Prime Minister, Minister of Defence & Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology:

The public is overwhelmingly rejecting Government plans for a compulsory digital ID. Now it appears that you seek to use our veterans as “guinea pigs” with digital veteran cards, as a “dry run” for rolling out compulsory digital ID to the wider public.

It is frankly unthinkable that this could be announced just months after we learned of the catastrophic Ministry of Defence Afghan data breach. May we remind you: this significantly endangered UK service personnel, as well as costing taxpayers an estimated £7 billion. Veterans have even more reason than most to fear the kind of data breaches that seem all but inevitable with this scheme.

Not least because this digital ID proposal is based on the troubled One Login system. One Login has been plagued by serious security failings: staff were granted unrestricted access without proper checks, work was outsourced overseas to cybercrime hotspots like Romania, and whistleblowers who raised concerns were silenced.

The public also rightly sees the risks of government misusing this powerful technology, whether now or in the future, and fears the creation of a “Checkpoint Britain.”

We do not want digital veteran cards, with all the risks they entail, nor do we want a covert attempt to “phase in” compulsory digital ID for everyone.

Sign here to protect veterans, safeguard data, and stop compulsory digital ID.